The Seven Year Itch
by waterangelphoenix
Summary: It's been seven years and I seem to have no luck with anything. After going through the same old thing for so long, isn't it time for a change?
1. Chapter 1:Day 1-The Supposed Day of Love

I know it's been a while since I published anything, but that doesn't mean I stopped writing. This story holds a good place in my heart, and also has inspired me to make a few changes of my life as well. Don't worry I'm still working on my other story, but this is just something I came up with in my head a year ago.

* * *

Chapter 1: Day 1—The supposed day of love

**Misty's POV**

If I knew that today would be the day that I really reconsider my life, perhaps I would have prepared myself for it more. Maybe I could have gotten a good night's sleep, or spent time taking a nice bubble bath. Maybe I could have even trimmed my hair, or try some different makeup. I don't know, I suppose I could have done anything, but I didn't know, no one knows when they are going to experience a life changing experience. It just happens, just like today.

It seemed like just a normal day at first, except it was Valentine's Day. Now of course as any normal beautiful girl I had a date, and I had high hopes for this one. A guy that I had been going out with for quite a while invited me for a nice stroll along the beach, and I was super excited. I had everything perfect, from my red color fingernails, to my red polka dot dress that complimented it nicely. My red hair was in a bun instead of its natural ponytail and to finish it off I didn't even care that I was getting sand in my sandals. Now all that was left to do was find him…

"Please you must understand!"

I suddenly heard his voice and looked to see him talking, or should I say arguing, with some woman. I didn't know if I should be curious or jealous but the curiosity part got the better of me and I ended up walking towards them. Before I was in eye sight however I stopped short when I heard what my supposed boyfriend said next.

"Please…you're the only one I want, the only one I need!" He cupped her chin with his hand and stared deeper into her eyes. "I…love you.." It was then that he kissed her. He _kissed _her! Right in front of me! Oh hell no…

My silent walk turned into loud stomps and I came closer to the couple. "Reynold!" I yelled.

Obviously surprised, the couple stopped to look at me. The woman said nothing but looked confused, while Reynold flustered in an attempt to explain.

"Misty…please you must understand this isn't what it looks like!" He waved his hands in front of him, "You see, this is my cousin ya? She is just visiting from France you see?"

"Your cousin?! Is that how people greet each other in France? With a long passionate kiss?!" I scoffed, not believing his sorry excuse for a second.

The woman's reaction confirmed my feelings. "Your cousin?! We've been married for six years, and you see me as nothing more but your cousin?! I knew it you were cheating on me!"

"Six years? You're married?! We've been going out for six months, and you never even mentioned that you had a wife, or anyone!" I yelled.

So now this jerk was really sweating, faced with two potentially dangerous women yelling at him on a crowded beach.

"Uh, uh p-please…you must understand…!"

But his wife cut him off before he could make another excuse. "No understand this, it's over! I go back to France and you are out! I'm getting a divorce!" She yanked her marriage ring off her finger and threw it on the ground next to him, then turned around and stomped off.

"W-wait!" He called out, then realizing she was gone, turned around to face me. "I wanted to break it up. I don't love her anymore, I only loved you…Misty…"

"Shut up! As if I would believe your lies! Now I realize why you gave me this stupid ten buck phone and this crappy cheap promise ring…and me I actually—ugh!" I took off the ring and took the phone out of my purse, throwing them both on the ground in front of him. "I'm through with you! I only hope the next girl isn't as dumb enough to fall for your lies!"

I stomped off as well, ignoring his calls and pleas for me to come back and listen to him. So what's a girl to do now? Go back home, empty handed and alone? I decided I didn't want to return to my house angry so instead I walked around the beach for a while, trying to cool my head.

Fortunately for me, Cerulean was known for its long spacious beach so I had plenty of time to think.

_I can't believe I fell for it, a fancy millionaire and he gives me a ten dollar phone? Maybe I should have realized it then. But I thought I loved him…_

_Or at least maybe I wanted to love him…_

_Damn it's been too long I've been going through this shit...seven years and I seem to have no luck with anything. I would be lucky just to find my breakfast on the kitchen table. After going through the same old thing for so long, isn't time for a change of luck already?_

I found myself at the end of the beach, when I realized it was getting dark. I folded my arms in frustration and kicked the sand. It was then I noticed the patch of sand that I kicked was really thick. It felt a lot like…

"Oh my goodness! It's a pokemon!" I bent over to pick up the heap that in fact was a pokemon, at least I thought it was, but it didn't look like any water pokemon I've seen before. I pressed my ear close to its chest. It was still alive! But only barely. I had to get it to a safe place to get help and fast. After panicking for a few seconds I did the one thing I thought of: I ran home.

"Don't worry little one," I assured it, "You're safe now I promise."

* * *

I burst down the door like a mad man, screaming out my roommate's name as I rushed to the dining room.

"Ash!"

The innocent black haired kid was playing cards with his trusted yellow rodent, Pikachu.

"Hey Mist what's goin' on—h-hey!" Ash was visibly upset when I tossed all the cards on the floor, but I heard him gasp in awe when I laid the tiny lump in its place.

"Hey, that's a pokemon!" Ash said.

"No shit, Sherlock now help me out here! Go get some towels and you, Pikachu, go get me a piece of wet cloth hurry!" After yelling out my demands I felt the pokemon's forehead. Just as I thought: a fever. I frantically searched in a drawer that was near me and pulled out a hyper potion. It was my last one so I hoped it worked.

"Here you go Misty, I brought a few towels," Ash said, helping me wrap the tiny pokemon in them. Pikachu came out a second later, with a dripping wet hand towel.

"Thank you Pikachu," I said, and I placed the small towel neatly on its head. Then I took the hyper potion and sprayed it all over its wounds, which I realized were numerous over its body.

"This pokemon…it looks so familiar…" Ash mumbled. He pulled out an old and tattered red object from his pocket. Even after all this time, he still carries around his trusty pokedex. He fumbled with it for a moment, pressing buttons and looking from the pokemon to his tiny encyclopedia in his hand.

"Thank you too, Ash…I felt so lost until I remembered you were here," I said. It's funny back in my old days I would never give Ash compliments, in fact it's one of the things I regret now. Ash has been staying with me in my apartment for around seven years now, although it feels like yesterday when he just moved in here. When I found him he was on the edge of collapse, but I somehow managed to bring him back and now it feels like he's slowly becoming himself again bit by bit.

Ash didn't acknowledge my comment, but I saw his eyes widen when he looked back at his pokedex.

"Holy crap…this…this is…" Ash's voice began to tremble a little.

"What is it? Did you recognize it?" I asked.

"Misty…this pokemon…it's Jirachi," Ash murmured.

"Are you serious?!" I yanked the pokedex from him as quickly as I could. Sure enough it looked just like it, minus all the scrapes and bruises. The same white body, the same triangular shaped head with the blue tags hanging from each point of its head, the curved mark on its belly, and the yellow streamers dangling from its back.

"It—it can't be…it is Jirachi…" I replied. "But—but how?"

"Misty…" Ash began, "How did you find Jirachi? How did it get like this?"

I breathed a heavy sigh and told him all of what happened that day, all the way up to the current situation.

"So, you just found it on the beach right? And it was so badly injured…" Ash's eyes looked thoughtful, then became very grave looking. "Misty…it was obvious this pokemon was attacked, so this pokemon is being sought after."

"But why? Why put a pokemon through so much pain?" I asked.

"Misty, this isn't just a normal pokemon, this is a legendary! People from all over the world try to catch pokemon like this, some are good while others are bad. They will do anything for a taste of its power..." Ash trailed off.

"I know that, but it's not fair, to do this to a defenseless pokemon!" I exclaimed. "Ash…we have to take care of this pokemon. There's not a pokemon center around for miles, ever since Nurse Joy left, and it would be too risky anyway to carry around a Jirachi in public."

Ash sighed and shook his head, but then found himself agreeing with me.

"I guess we have no choice," Ash agreed, "We can always keep it until we can find a better place for it."

I smiled. "Thank you Ash. Maybe we can take it to Professor Oak's lab, since he's the expert on pokemon, he would know what to do with it."

"Or maybe we could do something better than that," Ash said, looking at his pokedex once again. "It says here that Jirachi is known to live in the mountains of Johto. If we could take it to a mountainous area…"

"The mountains…you mean Mt. Moon?" I asked.

"It's our best shot," Ash replied. "It's the closest place to us and we don't have to risk carrying Jirachi around for very long."

"You're right. But for now we should focus on taking care of this fever. Let's take turns spending the night looking at Jirachi, just to make sure it's fever doesn't get any worse. How about I take a couple of hours and then you?" I suggested.

Ash just shrugged. "Fine by me. I guess we're in for a long night. Can you help us too, Pikachu?"

Pikachu happily replied in the affirmative. Meanwhile Ash's other long time pokemon friend, Venusaur, finally made his appearance, waddling out from Ash's room.

"Just in time Venusaur!" Ash got up and went behind the big pokemon, pushing it a little toward Misty and Pikachu. "You can also help us take care of this sick Jirachi here, since you have the most experience taking care of others." Ash smiled. Venusaur yawned a bit, not sure exactly why a legendary was in his presence but he was happy to help none of the less.

Seeing Venusaur yawn made me yawn too. Yep we were in for a long night.


	2. Chapter 2: Day 2--A New House Guest

Chapter 2: Day 2—A new house guest

**Misty's POV**

"I'm sorry about your boyfriend," I heard a voice whisper. I looked up from my sleeping position on the couch to see Ash looking down at me.

"C'mon now, don't give me such a sorrowful look," I smiled. I sat up and looked at him. "How's Jirachi?"

"Sleeping," Ash said. "I think it's doing better." I breathed a sigh of relief. The worst was over.

"Still though," Ash continued, "That guy was a jerk anyway, he was never right for you. I can tell these things about people."

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow. "Well what about you? How are things with you and your girl?"

Ash sighed. "Well…she broke up with me."

"Aww, man seriously? I'm sorry about that, Ash," I said. "I thought you really liked her, so what happened?"

"Ah, I don't know it just seemed like I did everything right. I dressed up in a nice tux and I had the flowers, the candy, even Pikachu dressed up too. But when she came in and saw us the first thing she said was that we have to talk," Ash said, shaking his head.

I grimaced. "Eww, that's not good." I replied.

"Then she said I talked about pokemon too much, I mean c'mon I'm a former champion for God's sake, and I traveled all over the world with my closest pokemon friends what more could I possibly speak about?"

"Oh Ash," I reached over and wrapped my arm around his shoulders. "The only reason women don't like that quality about you is because they don't know you. They don't appreciate you for who you are. Don't worry, someday you'll find someone that will love you and accept you for you, and then you won't have to try so hard to impress that person."

Ash smiled. "Hmph, thanks Misty, really…" He looked down at my face, which was resting on his shoulder. "You know…sometimes…I wish…" He trailed off unexpectedly, causing me to look at him in confusion.

"You wish what?" I asked.

Ash turned away and shook his head. "Nevermind. It's nothing important."

I tried to get something out of his look but I was too tired to think. Pulling an all nighter really takes the energy out of you. "Well I can use some coffee, how about you?"

Ash looked back at me and smiled again. "I would like that."

* * *

I woke up again to feel a paw tapping my forehead. "Ah, what the—Pikachu?"

"Pika!" he chirped.

"What is it? Is something wrong?"

"Misty look!" I heard Ash say. I looked behind me and I swear I felt my heart flutter with glee. There was Jirachi, sitting up and eating. Sure it still had drooping eyes and was still wrapped in towels, but it seemed happy, and getting more well by the second.

"Oh my goodness! You're awake!" I stood up and ran over to it.

"Jirli! Jirli!" the small star-shaped pokemon cried.

"I'm so glad you're ok, we were all really worried," I said. The pokemon looked up at me with inquisitive eyes, as if wondering who I was. "Jirachi, I was the one that rescued you on the beach yesterday. My name is Misty."

"And I'm Ash," my friend interrupted, "And this is Pikachu and Venusaur," he pointed to each of the pokemon beside him.

Jirachi looked at each of us, still a bit confused but a bit more relaxed. I bent down closer to the pokemon, to look at it more closely. "Jirachi, could you tell us more about what happened to you? Do you remember?"

Jirachi looked down at the food bowl in front of it, a bit unwilling to speak, then finally began relaying its words to Pikachu. Pikachu and Jirachi had a somewhat long conversation, until I got anxious and motioned to Ash to ask Pikachu what was going on.

"Uhm Pikachu, what is Jirachi saying?" Then Pikachu began telling Ash everything and Ash in turn told me. "Misty…Jirachi is being sought after. I don't know by who, but Jirachi says they chased it all the way here from a very long way. Jirachi doesn't seem to know why they are after it either, but I guess it has something to do with its power."

It was exactly as I feared. "Ash, we have to protect Jirachi. Who knows what could happen to it if we just let it go, and I don't think it has enough strength to survive on its own at the moment."

Ash looked understandably worried, after all our only defense was Pikachu and Venusaur. My experience as a former gym leader nor Ash's experience as a former champion would save us if the worst happened. But deep inside I think Ash agreed with me. We had no other choice but to keep Jirachi with us until it was well enough to defend itself.

Ash sighed. "Fine I guess you're right. Alright we'll keep it with us, and we'll defend it the best we can. It's all we can do."

And thus I became my happiest all morning. My eyes grew happy and my smile was wide and victorious. "Yes! You here that Jirachi? You get to stay with us until we'll be able to take you back home!"

Jirachi leapt from joy out of its towel bed. Pikachu also cried his name out in happiness that he would be able to have another friend around, and Venusaur let out a low bellowing sigh seeming a bit content over the situation.

"Oi, Jirachi, take it easy," Ash laughed. "You don't want to get sick again do you?"

I smiled. "At least it seems to like us now, right Jirachi?"

Jirachi spun around in our living room, letting out another cry, before placing its hands on its chest. Ash and I wondered what it was doing, but before we could worry any further, it began to become engulfed in a small white ball of light.

I attempted to shield my eyes from the blinding light. "What's happening?"

I heard Pikachu and Ash gasp in awe. "I-I think Jirachi is changing somehow!" Ash said.

Sure enough, right before our eyes, the little ball of light was shaping up into something. I couldn't put my finger on it, but it almost seemed inviting, the warm presence reassuring me that we were safe from harm. Before we knew it, the white light dissipated, and in its place was the last thing we would have ever expected.

"It...it's a.." Ash stuttered.

"A human?!" I blurted out.

I couldn't believe it but there before us sat a small human girl, that aged maybe around 6 or 7, wearing a long white frilly gown and long golden hair, with bright blue eyes and tiny red freckles on her cheeks.

She turned to Ash and smiled happily. "Do you like my new look?"

Ash sputtered like a madman and I tried hard not to faint by holding on to the arm of the couch. Never in my 21 years of living did I ever expect to see a pokemon transform into a human, let alone a legendary pokemon.

"H-how did you? When did you? W-what?!" Ash finally managed to piece his words together. He looked just as dumbfounded as I was.

"It's a special technique I learned long ago," Jirachi said. "After all being alive for so many millennia I had to pick up a few tricks along the way."

"But you just turned into a human!" I said again, almost as if convincing myself that it was actually happening. "How does a pokemon learn to do that?"

Jirachi put a hand on her cheek and thought aloud, "I actually don't know. It just kinda happened one day. But that was a long time ago.." She trailed off as if not wanting to indulge in a distant memory. "But it makes things better right?" She asked.

Ash nodded. "It definitely helps. After all no one will expect you to be a pokemon in disguise. Isn't that right Misty?"

I sighed and placed my free hand on my hip. "Well you can't go wrong with that, but we still need to figure out a reason you're here."

"Simple," Ash said. "We just tell her she's your cousin and she's going to be here with us for a few days. That works right?"

"Alright," I said next, the cognitive ideas forming in my head, "But how about a name? We need one for her in case anyone asks."

Ash positioned himself in a more comfortable pose on his seat on the floor, crossing his legs and placing an elbow on his knee, resting his chin on his hand. He then furrowed his eyebrows and closed his eyes, deep in thought. However my thoughts were still on the phenomena we just witnessed. I took one look at her long white dress and her golden hair and all of a sudden, it seemed like the named just popped out of my mouth.

"Snowflake. How about the name Snowflake?"

"That's not really much of a name," Ash murmured.

"I know but it just fits you know? It never snows here, but her skin is as white as snow." I replied.

"Hmmm," Ash hummed. "Alright I guess that will work. I kinda like it. Snowflake. What about you Jirachi?"

"I love it!" Jirachi squealed. "No one has ever given me a name before! At least not a human name anyway!" She pumped her little fists in the air and twirled around on her toes. "Yay I got a name!"

I smiled. I was glad that my simple name made her so happy. "Well now," I said happily, "I guess the next thing to do is to teach you all about being a human. After all if you're going to live here with us you have to fit in."

Jirachi-I mean Snowflake, turned to me and smiled. "No problem! I can always catch on fast, right Pikachu!"

"Pikachu!" Pikachu nodded and said its name.

"Well," Ash said, "It would help you if you stood up off of the table."

Snowflake blushed. "Oh...ahahaha…"

* * *

"And this...is how you turn on the TV," I grabbed the remote and pressed the power button.

In a long day of teaching Snowflake everything about household items, reading, writing, and even basic cleaning, I was beat. I secretly wanted to sit and watch TV but I figured it would be a nice time for Snowflake to see basic social values.

Except for the first voice that comes on is: "Yeah! I kicked your butt!"

I quickly changed the channel. Okay, too much social values.

Jirachi however was fascinated, not by the voices, but by the changing screen. She inched closer to the tiny black box.

"Amazing...how does it move from one thing to another? Where do the voices come from? Do the people disappear forever?"

"Well you see," as I tried to take the time to explain, "You see what we are looking at are just images of things that have been prerecorded and broadcasted from far away. Those aren't live people just images of what we could see if we switch it to a certain channel."

At least, I think that's how it works.

Jirachi's eyes widened. "That's soooo coool!" She exclaimed.

I smiled. I guess it was correct enough for her to accept anyway.

"I'm home!" Yelled a voice from the doorway.

Snowflake jolted up, her blue eyes bright and wide, "Hi, Ash!" She said happily while running up to him.

"Hey Snowflake!" He shouted, picking her up in his arms. "You know I never gotten this good of a welcome home before! Perhaps you should teach this to Misty." He stuck his tongue out at me playfully, and I rolled my eyes in response. "So," he continued, "Did you learn a lot from Misty today?"

Snowflake nodded. "I did! I'm so fascinated by the world that humans live in, and I really like that big box over there," she said, pointing to the TV.

Ash placed her down gently. "You know what? I do too!" He smiled.

"Yeah, he loves that box so much he sits next to it every day," I chided him.

"Oh hah hah," Ash murmured while walking over to sit down next to me. "Aren't you even going to ask me about my day?"

About a year ago Ash had gotten the offer of a teaching job in the city. Although I couldn't really imagine Ash teaching a bunch of young children about the joys of pokemon training, the more I thought about it the more it began to make sense. Even though he gets good compliments I'm not sure if anyone in his class actually learns anything.

"Ahhh, well my class is now learning about status ailments so I guess that's interesting," Ash sighed. I wondered if he was bored or just tired.

"I was trying to decide if I should have my students battle for a test or just give them a written one."

"Ash, didn't you say before how much you hated grading the written tests?" I asked, remembering that he was so bored last time that he gave most of the class an A just to be done with it.

"Yeah you're right," Ash said. "Battles are much more interesting to watch anyway."

They were both interrupted by a loud yawn from Snowflake.

"Snowflake, sweetie, why don't you sleep in my room tonight? I'm sure the couch that you laid on earlier was a bit uncomfortable for you," I suggested.

"Uhm, well…" Snowflake said, placing her tiny hand on her chin as if in deep thought.

Ash smiled. "Don't worry Snowflake," he said, "If you want Venusaur and Pikachu can come keep you company."

Snowflake turned to look at us, her smile shimmering brightly. "Really? Alright!" She jumped in the air and ran to my room, Pikachu and Venusaur following behind her.

I smiled and stood up. "I should go tuck her in. Hey do you want anything to eat?"

"Hmm, nah, I'll just make me a sandwich or something." Ash replied.

And with a slight nod, I made my way over to my room, where Snowflake had already made herself comfortable on my cot, Pikachu in her lap and Venusaur at her side.

"Well look at you," I placed my hands on my hips, "You look quite comfy. Do you like my bed, Snowflake?"

Snowflake nodded. "It's bigger than Ash's bed!"

"Hehe, yeah I kinda stole his old bed from him, but shhh don't tell him I told you."

We both shared a laugh, then she asked me something unexpected.

"Misty, do you like it here?"

"Wha-what do you mean?" I asked back.

"Well you seemed so sad today," she replied. "Are you sad being here?"

I was surprised. I never showed any sadness, at least not today, but pokemon were always more keen on human emotions than maybe we are ourselves. Perhaps she noticed something deep in me that not even I could see? Either way, I wasn't ready to reveal my deep dark secrets yet.

"You shouldn't worry, Snowflake," I said. "I assure you everything is fine." I tucked in the sheets around her body. "All you should focus on is getting some rest okay?"

She nodded. "The world in which humans live is always so interesting. I learn so much every time I awake. Well, goodnight, Misty." She smiled at me softly. Somewhere deep inside, I could tell that she was worried about me, but I don't know why I seemed fine. Right?

I went back to the living room, where Ash had made two sandwiches and put them on the table.

I sighed, "Ash if you wanted more food, I could have made you something."

"I made a sandwich for you silly," Ash said, "Now if you don't want it…"

"I'll take it thanks," I said happily. And so we began to eat peacefully, at least until Ash started talking again.

"Hmm, so is Snowflake alright?" Ash asked.

"She's fine," I said, "I think this is just a huge adjustment, staying with us in this crummy apartment. I almost wish we could afford a hotel."

Ash took another bite, "Well with my salary as a teacher, and your salary as a librarian, I'm sure we could have gotten a cheap motel for like 3 days or something. You know any good motels, Mist?"

I hated that darn nickname. "Not funny, Ketchup," I replied back.

Ash laughed and patted my back. I smiled slightly back at him, then rolled my eyes. He loves to tease me.

"Don't worry I'm sure we are fine!" Ash said laughing again, "Besides, motels probably won't accept pokemon that are outside their pokeballs. And you know I lost Venusaur's pokeball a long time ago."

I frowned a bit at that memory, but decided to change the subject. "Ash, you know I have work tomorrow, so you will have to stay here with Snowflake."

"I know and don't worry I already have something planned," he said with a smile.

"Oh really? And what would that be?" I asked.

"Did ya forget Misty? Tomorrow is the Flower Carnival, and it would be perfect for her to see I think," Ash replied back.

"Is it really that time of year already?" I ate the last bit of my sandwich.

Ash stood up and stretched a little. "I could take Pikachu with us," he said, "And there's going to be so many kids there, it would be super fun."

"Too bad, it was more fun when I was little," I said, taking his plate and mine, "Back then it was less of a tourist trap."

Ash placed his hands on his hips and looked at me, that same childlike smile already forming on his face. "Cmon Misty can't we not talk about politics and money-making schemes this year? Let's just focus on the fun aspects of it."

I sighed angrily, and turned on the water, putting soap on the plates to wash them. It's not that I liked talking about the distresses of my beloved city, because it hurt each time I mentioned them, but as I look around Cerulean and remember what it used to be I'm not sure if I should be angry or not. But I'm sure Ash was just as tired of hearing me complain as I was of complaining. As I put the wet plate next to me on the counter, Ash came beside me and started to dry it.

"I'm not upset at you, you know," Ash said. "You know lately even Pallet has given into the "tourist destination of the year" stuff."

"At least your town still has its old classic values," I replied. "Cerulean is losing more and more of what made it Cerulean. Did you know that they are turning Bill's old house into this museum/bed and breakfast thing? They rather charge people 100 bucks a night to stay there instead of turning it into something more dignified."

"How much more dignified do you want it? It was an old run down mansion anyway. I'm surprised they didn't tear it down and turn it into a lighthouse or something."

I placed another plate beside him to dry. "I would much rather it be a lighthouse instead of a way for the city to cheat its people," I replied back.

"That's just how towns are these days, Misty," Ash said sorrowfully. "Everyone wants to make money, and no one has enough of it to share."

"I guess you're right," I said, turning off the water and drying my hands.

Ash looked at me surprised, as if he expected me to start another comeback argument. "Hey hey, no need to get all depressed on me now," he replied. "Hey I know, how about I make you a milkshake?"

"Ash you treat me like a little kid, giving me treats to make me feel better," I looked to him then smiled. "Alright make me one."


	3. Chapter 3:Day 3-That Same Familiar Smile

Chapter 3: Day 3-That Same Familiar Smile

**Ash's POV**

Okay so I admit it, having Snowflake around is a treat. I mean how often do you have a legendary pokemon turned human staying in your home? It's definitely a sight to behold.

And I must admit it's brought a small change in Misty too, I mean this morning she was teaching the proper etiquette of eating while sitting Snowflake on her lap. A bit counter productive if you ask me but it reminded me of a moment from long ago, a young Misty sitting near a campfire, singing softly to a tiny egg pokemon in her lap…

"Ash! I have to go now!" Misty yelled.

"Alright Misty," I replied.

"Be sure to watch out for Snowflake make sure she doesn't get into anything," Misty said, heading towards the door.

"Alright Misty," I replied again.

"And be sure to feed her," She turned back around.

"Alright Misty," I nodded.

"And if you cook something don't let her near the stove okay?"

"Alright Misty."

"And if you decide to take her somewhere please don't spend a whole lot of money okay?"

"Alright Misty."

"And try not to lose sight of her either strap her to you if you have to."

"Alright Misty."

She turned around again just as she was opening up the door. "And-"

"Misty just go okay, you're going to be late! I hate to see ya ruin that outfit by running," I teased her.

She just rolled her eyes. "Hey do I look alright?"

She spun around a little, allowing me to admire more of her outfit. Today she decided to go all brown, in a brown two button pant suit set with a brown undershirt and brown 1 inch high heels. Of course the first couple of things that passed through my mind was how was she going to ride a bike in heels and whether or not she was trying to go back to her tomboy roots.

"You look great okay?" I replied, "Knock those librarian nerds out dead!"

Misty rolled her eyes again. "C'mon don't talk that way in front of Snowflake. Children are very impressionable you know!"

I rubbed my hand through my hair. "Uhh, yeah…"

"Well, see you later," she said. "And don't give Ash too much of a hard time Snowflake."

"Yes Misty!" She replied.

As soon as Misty left I looked at the little girl staring curiously at me. "So little one," I kneeled next to her, "What would you like to do today?"

She shrugged her shoulders and smiled shyly, twirling her fingers in her dress, "I don't know…" she replied.

"Well then how about I cook you some breakfast and then I could take you someplace special would you like that?" I asked.

"Yes!" She smiled brightly. "But...I have a question."

"Yes what is it?"

"What's a..lie-beary-an?" She stumbled through the word bravely, but fortunately I understood it.

"Oh a librarian! Well you see in some large cities, or even small cities, we have this place called a library where we hold a huge number of books so people can read them whenever they want to. So there are people who come to watch over these books and they call those people librarians," I explained. "And that's what Misty is over at the Cerulean Library."

"Wow that's so cool! She's like a guardian of reading!" Snowflake said, clasping her hands together, "Can we all go to the library then?"

"Well we wouldn't want to interrupt mother Misty while she's working," I said. Darn it's less fun to tease her when she isn't giving me a death glare. "Buuut I have another place in mind I can take you."

"Oh yay! Let's go let's gooooooo!" Snowflake jumped up and down, so much that Pikachu jumped with her. It was a bit cute to see. I smiled softly, thinking that this was going to be an interesting day, as soon as I eat anyways.

* * *

"Thi-this is…" Snowflake's eyes grew wide as she saw the splendor that was before her.

"See Snowflake, this is what we call a car-ni-val," I sounded out the word for her. "This place is awesome it has water park rides, Ferris Wheels, merry-go-rounds, roller coasters, but this best place here has to be the pokemon stadium."

"Stay-de-uhm?" Snowflake's brows furrowed, and she placed her hand deep on her chin, as if in deep thought.

"Don't worry I'll show you," I said as a grabbed her hand and Pikachu jumped on my shoulder. "You see today is a special day because today is the day of the pokemon contest competition."

"And what's that?" she asked.

"Let's see how can I explain this...pokemon contests are like a way to showcase a pokemon's beauty in a powerful way and showing off a pokemon's power in a beautiful way. You as the trainer put together a variety of moves to make the pokemon's beauty come out and then when the pokemon battles it uses its power to dominate its opponent. The trick is putting it all together in a way in which the pokemon shines through its power and its beauty. Ah but it's still a bit hard to understand isn't it Pikachu?"

Pikachu gave me a perplexed look and said, "Pika?" I guess Pikachu was just as confused as I was.

"I don't think Pikachu understands you…" Snowflake said, confirming my thoughts.

"Ah don't worry, the best way to learn is to see it first hand. Come on!" I squeezed Snowflake's hand as a led her through the crowd on the way to the arena. I just knew in the end she would really enjoy this.

I heard Snowflake sigh in awe behind me as we entered the arena. The place was flooded with red, blue and green lights, which was a bit blinding in itself. The bleachers were expanded more this time I noticed, which gave a lot of seating room. Right above the central stage were gold and silver banners that floated downwards, with purple colored streamers that curved around each other, almost like a braided hairstyle. As Pikachu, Snowflake and I made our way to our seats I couldn't help but notice the silver color writing all over: Pokemon Contest Competition. I must admit being in a place like this brought back memories, but seeing the sandy makeshift area down below on center stage really brought it all back to me. A part of me just can't help but miss pokemon training…

"Ash," Snowflake said pointing to the battlefield, "Are they going to battle on there?"

I nodded. "That's where all the magic happens, and hey you see that small table with the 3 people sitting next to it? That's where the judges are and they grade you on how well you do in the beginning round. The beginning round is where the trainers show off their pokemon beauty."

"Ahh…" Snowflake replied. "It reminds me so much of when I was younger and there were these huge battles for the title of strongest pokemon. Of course, those battles were a bit more harsher and everyone wasn't so eager to see happiness. This...isn't like that is it?"

"N-No, of course not! These battles are safe honest!" I frantically replied, after it took me a moment to realize what she was implying.

She already seemed fascinated and the tournament didn't even start yet! Kinda reminded me of me when I was that age…

And so the tournament went on for a couple of hours. I think Pikachu's excitement had passed on to Snowflake, and after a while she began to jump up and down and cheer for every pokemon she saw. It was a nice variety this year, from Squrtle to Samurott, Charmander to Fennekin, Bulbasaur to Serperior, each pokemon that came on the field was nothing more but a showcase of ultimate power. The crowd reactions were infectious, and even the judges had a hard time deciding who should move on to the next round. In the end however, the 64 contestants had dwindled down to 2. The one trainer that ended up winning was a young girl from Celedon City, along with her Growlithe and Pidgey, an unlikely pair that stormed through the competition.

But just when I thought the tournament was over, the announcer came out, a tall man who hails from Saffron, and said an unexpected turn of events.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, we have a special treat for you! All the way from Hoenn, these two fantastic trainers were the first to win the first ever tag team pokemon contest that happened late last year! Introducing to you, May and Drew!"

"What?!" I exclaimed.

"Pika!" Pikachu pointed towards the arena as two figures ran out onto the stage. It was indeed May and Drew, May having on a sparkling blue dress and Drew showing off a dark green suit. They nodded in understanding as they released their pokemon.

"Go Glaceon!" May said.

"Roserade go!" Drew yelled.

Glaceon and Roserade, May and Drew's main go-to pokemon, popped up on the field, zig-zagging in a criss-crossing fashion.

"Roserade use magical leaf!" Drew commanded.

"Glaceon ice beam!" May called out.

Roserade's leaves flew into the sky, and almost at the same time, Glaceon's ice move had frozen them in the air, turning the multicolored leaves into an icy free fall. But just before the leaves had hit the ground…

"Roserade, poison sting!" Drew yelled.

At that instant, purple colored spikes that seemed to fall from the sky pierced each of the frozen falling leaves and then each leaf exploded into a variety of colors, covering the sky in an icy rainbow.

Everyone cheered happily and began to clap their hands, and Snowflake clapped as May and Drew took their bow.

"That was so awesome!" Snowflake cheered.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu agreed.

I laughed. "Yeah, they changed a lot since the first time I saw them together."

Snowflake gasped. "Do you know them?"

I turned to her and smiled. "Yeah I do, I used to travel with the girl, May."

"Can we meet them?" She began to bounce up and down in excitement even before waiting for my answer.

"Well it has been a while since I've seen them…"

"Yay! You hear that Pikachu? We get to meet May and Drew!" She picked up Pikachu and placed him on her tiny shoulder. Pikachu said his name in response happily, cuddling up in Snowflake's hair.

Gosh how long has it been since I seen Drew and May? I guess about seven years now...wow time sure does pass fast. Rumor had it after May won the Sinnoh Grand Festival a few years back she became an official couple with Drew, and they've been together ever since. I must admit they do make a good couple, and it seems like they've gotten even stronger since they been together. Once tag team pokemon contests were introduced Drew and May seemed to dominate and flourish against the competition, winning numerous tournaments before finally winning a major one. I heard it was their hope of bringing tag teaming to Kanto, hoping that the entire region would catch on.

So Snowflake and I, along with Pikachu, made our way behind the arena, hoping to catch them coming out of their dressing rooms or something.

I heard a feminine voice behind me, "So, are you looking for someone?"

I turn around but based on the cry of happiness from Pikachu and Snowflake I already know who it was. "May?"

She still wore her traditional shirt and pants, but the shirt color was green instead of her classic red, and her hair grew a lot more than I remembered.

"Ash!" May opened her arms and gave me a huge hug. "I'm so happy I was hoping to see you!"

I hugged her back. "It's great to see you too, May it's been a while hasn't it?"

She placed her hands on her hips, "It's been seven years silly! Seven years and I haven't heard from you at all!"

As I rub my hair and stumble over an apology, May bends down to pet Pikachu.

"Pikachu I've missed you! Oh and who is this adorable little one?"

Snowflake smiled. "It's very nice to meet you my name is Snowflake!"

"Snowflake huh, is that a nickname? It suits you very well!" May said with a smile.

"I saw you perform and it was so cool!" She said. "When I become a trainer I hope I could be just like you!"

"Well I don't think that would be so hard at all," a male voice chimed in.

May turned around to face Drew, "Hmph, no one asked for your opinion," she huffed.

"Ash, it's great to see you," Drew reached his hand out for me to shake, which I did happily.

"It's great to see you too Drew," I replied. "You and May did great out there."

"Thanks we been practicing that one technique for a while," Drew mentioned. "Glad that we finally got it done."

May walked up and put her arms around Drew and I. "I was just telling Drew that was hoping to see either you or Misty while we were here. Is she still upset about her gym turning into an amusement park?"

I laughed. "Oh May, you have no idea how angry she is. But hey it's great to see you guys we should all meet up and catch up sometime."

"Aw man, we'd love to Ash, but we have to be in Saffron by tomorrow," Drew said. "But hey, let's eat lunch together! We have a few hours left before we have to leave."

"That's a great idea!" May said clasping her hands together. "Besides I'd love to talk to Snowflake a bit more she is adorable!"

Snowflake jumped up and down, so much that Pikachu fell off her shoulder and jumped in her arms. "Yay! May must like me if she wants to be with me! Did you hear that Pikachu?"

"Pika Pikachu!"

* * *

I couldn't help but feel a bit odd a few minutes later. It was as if something from deep inside my body was telling me that something was wrong. And then my stomach started to growl at me. Oh yeah, I forgot it's been a while since I've eaten. Well at least I had two chili dogs to remedy that problem.

"I see your appetite hasn't changed much," Drew said. He was behind me, after grabbing a couple of burgers for him and May he came back to lead me to the table.

"Hey I'm not going to eat them both," I retaliated. "One is for Snowflake."

"So," Drew began to speak again, "About that girl...is she...your daughter?"

"Wait what?" I nearly dropped the buns in shock. "No! She's Misty's cousin that's all!"

"Hey it's totally okay, you can tell me, it's just she does look a bit like you," Drew adjusted his arms so that his food was easier to carry.

"She's not my daughter," I said again, shoving a hog dog into my mouth. It's not like I never thought of having children, but having children with Misty might be...well maybe not the end of the world...although I never really thought of us going that far...hey it's not like we're in a relationship...Misty can do a lot better than me, ah, what am I thinking?

I could feel myself blushing, and I was in another desperate attempt at changing the subject, "So, uh, how are things between you and May anyway? I heard you two were actually a couple."

"Yeah we've been going out for like four years now," Drew replied, "But even we don't have any children like you and Misty have."

"She's not my kid!" I said, finally realizing that Drew was teasing me once I heard him laugh. I rolled my eyes. "Geez, Drew."

Drew shrugged his shoulders as we finally reached the table. "Hey, it's not my fault you thought I was serious."

"Oh my gosh," May turned to me and smiled as I sat down, "Snowflake is so adorable! She knows so much too! I hear that you and Misty have been teaching her a lot, and it shows too."

I blushed and nervously rubbed my hair. "Well thanks," I said. "Oh Snowflake, this is for you," I said handing her the chili dog.

"What is it?" She looked at it curiously.

"Uhm, it's a chili dog, you know, a hog dog, chili, cheese, a bun…" I replied. I guess Misty forgot to tell her about that small bit of information.

"Oh," she replied. She eagerly took a bite, and then her eyes sparkled like diamonds. "It's sooooo goood," she said. "I love it!"

May laughed. "She's so adorable! I almost wish I could keep her for myself!"

Drew narrowed his eyes and looked at her. "Don't get any ideas, May," he replied.

May rolled her eyes in response. "So Ash, how are you and Misty doing? It's been so long what are you up to?"

"Well I'm a teacher at a school across town," I began, "And Misty is a librarian at the local library. Things are going just fine though, I mean it's been a bit hard but we work together and we do what we can to make ends meet."

"Well I guess under the circumstances it's all you can do right?" May asked, the sadness becoming evident in her voice.

I nodded solemnly.

"Still it's great to see you Ash," Drew commented. "May's mother thought for sure you would have turned into a little Krabby by now trying to find your way, but you're doing alright."

"My mom has been worried about you lately," May agreed. "Well we all have actually. We were hoping to see you or Misty while we were here and we sure are glad to see you in good spirits."

"Yeah I know it's been a while since I've talked to you guys," I said, "I'm really sorry about that, but it's just that a lot has happened and it was hard to get things together."

"Hey it's alright we're just glad you're okay," Drew said.

May nodded. "Actually...I can't help but ask you...have you ever thought about getting back into training? It has been seven years after all…"

"May," I sighed, "I don't know if I can be much of a trainer right now. I just need to settle some things in my head at the moment."

"But it's been so long," she went on. "Don't you think it's time to move on?"

"C'mon May," Drew intervened, "You shouldn't ask him that. It's his own life he can do what he wants."

"I know that," May agreed, "But he shouldn't stay in his shell for so long. We've just been...worried that's all…"

"I know May,' I sighed again, running my fingers through my hair, "I'll figure things out on my own time, but I just can't right now. I don't want to think about it."

May slowly nodded, letting her head fall a bit. Drew reached out and touched her hand while I looked over to Snowflake, who was apparently in another world taste testing mustard and ketchup with Pikachu.

"I thank you for caring about us," I said happily, "But hey how has your travels been? I know you two have been to tons of places right?"

So we all talked for around two hours, but then the sun began to set on our conversation.

"Oh shoot, May, we gotta get going," Drew said, standing up from his seat.

"Aw already? It was so nice to reminisce," May sighed, placing a hand under her chin.

"Yeah it was," I said getting up now. Snowflake mimicked me stretched the way I did. "Hey it was great to see you guys," I continued, "We really gotta meet up again, and sooner this time!"

May nodded and stood up too. "Yeah! Let's not wait another seven years okay?"

Drew turned to Snowflake. "And I can't wait to see this girl beat the pants off of May when she gets older," he said.

Snowflake giggled while May laughed, placing her hands on her hips. "Well then, I hope she's ready for a fight when she fights me!"

We all waved and said our goodbyes and then before I knew it, May and Drew was in a mini limo and leaving the city.

I sighed and placed my hands on my hips. "Well, there they go."

Snowflake looked up at me as Pikachu jumped back on my shoulder. "You seem sad, Ash, are you okay?"

I nodded, "Yeah, I just hate to see good friends go so soon."

"Ahh…" She whispered, then grew silent. At least until she said the next thing she was thinking.

"So why did you stop being a trainer?"

I inwardly flinched. "Huh?"

"Was May upset because you stopped being a trainer? Why did you stop?" She asked again.

"I-I really don't think it's...really the best time to tell such a story," I answered.

Snowflake's curiosity got the best of her. "But why? What happened?"

I was in a desperate mood to change the subject. "Hey, how about we go on some rides huh? You wanna go on the roller coaster?"

Her expression instantly changed. "Ooooh yes! Let's go let's gooooo!" She began to bounce up and down. I quickly grabbed her hand and led her through the crowd, glad about the fact that young children have a short attention span.

* * *

So after a few more hours, Pikachu, Snowflake, and I made our way back home, where Misty was already cooking dinner for us.

"Well look who finally decided to show up," Misty said. "And here I thought you all had forgotten about me."

"We thought about it," I replied, winking at her. Misty brushed me off and kneeled next to Snowflake.

"So did you have fun, sweetie?" She asked.

Snowflake clasped her hands together, flashing a bright smile. "Yes! We went to the pokemon contest competition and then I got to meet Drew and May!"

Misty's eyes grew wide. "Drew and May were there? Aw, man I haven't seen them in years!"

"Don't worry they send their regards," I replied.

Misty smiled, I noticed it was a bit more strained than usual. "Hey Snowflake," I suggested, "How about you and Pikachu go get cleaned up for dinner huh?"

Snowflake nodded and allowed Pikachu to jump in her arms. "Okay," she said. She skipped away into the bathroom, and I heard Misty sigh and turn around.

"Would you like to eat now? Aw who am I kidding of course you would," she laughed, "I bet it was so nice to see May and Drew. Are they doing well?"

"Misty…" I turned to her. "What's wrong?"

"Huh, what do you mean nothing's wrong," she said while pulling out a few plates from the cabinet.

After living with Misty for seven years, I could automatically tell when she was hiding something. It was like trying to hide a Sandslash in a pillowcase. Her body slouched over a bit, and she yawned almost instinctively, piling mashed potatoes onto a plate.

"Don't you think that's a bit much for Snowflake?" I asked.

She smiled slightly. "This plate is for you silly," she said.

"Oh, uh, you didn't have to-"

Misty interrupted me and said, "No I want to." She then turned and gave the plate to me after putting meat and vegetables on it. "Don't worry," she whispered. "I'll tell you about once Snow goes to bed okay?"

I slightly nodded. I guess she figured I won't let her be about her situation.

So we continued our evening as if everything was fine. Snowflake was super excited about the day we had together and she couldn't stop talking about it. I was happy I was able to make her so happy, and more importantly, she actually learned something from me! It's so nice to have children who take the time to learn instead of children who either fall asleep or just look at me with such a blank look it's nerve-racking. Maybe I'm not such a bad teacher after all.

"Goodnight, Snowflake," I heard Misty say.

"Goodnight Misty," she replied back.

Misty then came back in the living room with a sigh, and sat down next to me as I was watching tv. We sat there in silence for a bit, and I noticed she was biting her lower lip. Geez, this news she has must be either really really good or really bad.

"Don't you have like, papers to grade or something?" She asked me.

"There's always tomorrow," I answered back.

"Why put off tomorrow what you can do today?" She gave me a smile.

I rolled my eyes at her. "Alright, quit stalling," I said, grabbing the remote and changing the channel. "Are you gonna tell me what's wrong?"

Misty grabbed the remote from me. "Ash, I could tell you tomorrow and the end result still wouldn't matter," she said.

I grabbed the remote from her tiny hands. "Why put off tomorrow what you could do today?" I teased her.

She tried to reach for the remote but I held it over my head. Good thing I had gotten taller than her over the years, it was easy to make it hard for her to reach for things she wanted, like boxes of cereal or remote controls.

"Ash c'mon give it!" She said trying and failing to grab it from my hand. She leaned over so hard and fell on top of me, still in a desperate reach. I got so flustered from this I let go of the remote letting it drop to the carpet below. She tried to reach for it again but I held her back my holding her shoulders back. She huffed and poked out her lips, her eyes like sharp daggers pointing right at me.

"Ash," she said again in a slight whiny voice, "Must you be so cruel?"

"Misty you always do this," I replied, pushing her body off of mine. "You wanna say something but then you start to distract me and make me forget."

"No I don't," she replied back, "I just think there are better things to talk about right now."

"Like what?" I asked.

She looked to me and then sighed heavily. "Alright, I'll tell you." She bit her lower lip again, twiddling her fingers quickly.

She then looked to me and just blurted it out, "The library is closing."

My eyes widened. "What?"

"The library is closing Ash," she said again. "On Monday, it will officially be closed for good."

"Wait wait, I still don't understand how," I said. "How can a library just close?"

She sighed again. "The library ran out of public funds and the city thinks it's cheaper to just close the place instead of allowing it to run on."

"Seriously?!" I said in shock. "I always thought the federal government pays for places like libraries, how do you just run out of money?"

"Ash," Misty replied, "The city is losing money. They have to cut corners, and unfortunately the library is one of the corners that got cut. Even if we all worked for free, we still wouldn't be able to fund the library. On top of that the property taxes are going up as well. Apparently the library's land is worth more than the actual library."

"I just don't believe this…" I said, still stunned about the whole ordeal. I laid back on the couch, running my fingers through my hair.

"That's not even the worst of it," I heard Misty say. "Now that I will officially be out of a job in a few days, we will have even less money now. How on earth are we going to live off of one paycheck? We needed that money, Ash, and now…"

"Hey, don't worry about that," I said. "I'll try to pick up a few extra teaching hours, and I could even get a job somewhere else if I have to."

Misty shook her head. "It wouldn't be enough, Ash," she placed her hands on her forehead. "It's just not enough anymore…"

I sighed and placed my arm around her. "Hey we been through worse situations before haven't we? We always stuck it out and got through together and we can do it now. We just have to think about this, that's all."

Misty sighed again, her head becoming buried in my shoulder. "How Ash? There's nothing left here," she said despondently. "There's nothing left…"

I wrapped my arms around her, rubbing her back as she started to cry. It seemed like the more Cerulean died, a piece of her died right along with it. How I hated to see a woman cry, but what am I to do, tell her that things will work out fine? I'm afraid with all my good vibes and confidence I couldn't bring back the confidence of an entire city.

But I swear, I could hear my heart breaking with every sob she had.


	4. Chapter 4: Day 4--Writer's Block

Chapter 4: Day 4-Writer's Block

**Misty's POV**

I wanted to make Snowflake feel a bit special, and I wanted to get my mind off of my lost job, so I took Snowflake to the library where I used to work. I know it's a terrible way of getting over it, however I did want to talk to my boss Ms. Naiomi. She's been there since the very beginning, after all her family owned the library. I know she did try hard to save it, but anyone could see that it was a lost cause. At least as a sign of good faith, Ms. Naiomi decided to have a free book special, giving out free books to anyone who wanted one. So I figured it might be a nice way to expand on Snow's reading capability.

Once we entered, Snowflake was so captivated by all the books around her.

She nearly squealed with glee. "Ahh this is amazing! So this is what a library looks like!"

I giggled. "Remember, Snow, this is a place where you're supposed to be really quiet."

She covered her mouth. "Oh yeah, sorry!"

Even though the bookcases were tall, they looked a bit bare. I guess they were almost done with the final move. We walked through the lobby area and climbed up the stairs, hoping we could find more books there. As soon as we walked up there was a long table with about ten stacks of books, a bit scattered, but still neatly piled up. As I grabbed Snowflake's hand and led her to the table, I could hear a feminine voice ring out.

"Welcome! Please feel free to take whatever you want! Oh! Hi there, Misty, it's good to see you!"

The voice belonged to a medium sized woman around 27 years old, wearing a black and white skirt set with a black blazer, dark, thin-rimmed glasses, and her long black hair tied up in a bun.

"Oh, hi Ms. Naiomi it's nice to see you too," I replied.

She smiled. "Oh is this the young girl you were talking about?" She looked to Snowflake. "I can tell she really has a passion for learning."

Snowflake was already curled up in a chair with a book in her lap, another book by her feet.

"Yeah," I said. "My cousin has always been interested in reading and trying different things. She's real adventurer." I couldn't help but show her off at least a little, even if she wasn't really my cousin.

Ms. Naiomi smiled happily, then took my hand and led me a few steps away. "I was hoping you would come. I wanted to apologize formally about all this, I know it's been sprung up on you and I didn't really give anyone a time to properly prepare for this."

"It's quite alright," I said. "I'm used to sudden situations."

"Well it's just you have been working here for about 10 years now and I hate to end it on such a sour note. Listen, Pewter City has been gracious to us and decided to let us have half of the Pewter Museum in order to hopefully combine the two. So if you ever need a job, Misty, I have some in mind for you," she reassured me, patting my shoulder.

I sighed and rubbed my head. "I thank you Ms. Naiomi, I really do, but I'm not quite ready to leave Cerulean yet."

"Well I suggest you take my advice," she told me, "Leave. Misty I grew up in this city the same as you, and I watched your gym fall. There's nothing in this town anymore, Misty. As much as I would like this city to go back to the way it used to be, in all honesty this has been a long time coming and it can't really get much better from here."

I nodded. "I know you're right, but I just still have a few loose ends to tie before I can officially leave here," I said.

"Well however you do it, please be sure to take care of yourself," Ms. Naiomi smiled looking to Snowflake, "And take care of that precious child over there. She just looks absolutely adorable."

I smiled and looked at Snow too, who was trying to read two books at the same time. "Yeah, don't worry about that. After all, she's my inspiration."

* * *

After spending some time in the library, we were on our way home. Snowflake was carrying two books while I was carrying three. I smiled, satisfied that my little Snow was so absorbed into learning about the world around it.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Snowflake," I began to speak, "But are you sure you will be able to read all these books before you have to leave?"

"Don't worry," she replied, "After all your help, I can read much faster than a normal human can. Give me about an hour, and I'll have all these books read and done!"

I smiled. "Well I'm glad I was able to help. Ever since Ash became a substitute teacher about a year ago, I often wondered if I would ever be able to help anyone on the same scale. But I'm glad I found someone who appreciates my knowledge, even though I'm probably not as good as Ash is."

"Aw, nonsense Misty," Snowflake replied, "You and Ash have been such good teachers, equally good! You are just as good honest!"

I sighed, adjusting the books under my arm. "Well at least I'm still good for something, even after so much has already happened."

"I'm sorry about your gym," Snowflake said.

I looked to her surprised. "How did you know?" I asked.

"I heard May and Ash talking about it," Snow replied back. "It must have been pretty cool having an awesome place for your gym."

I sighed and chuckled a bit. "Well, people wanted to expand more on making this city look a bit different so they took some things away and added some things. One thing that was unfortunately taken away was my gym."

"So that amusement park isn't your gym?" Snowflake asked next.

"Of course not! My gym was a lot more symbolic and dignified than that money trap," I spat out. Then I looked at the confused in Snowflake's beautiful baby blue eyes and decided to change my spiteful tone. "But it was my decision and I can't dwell on it."

"Oh. Did Ash have a gym too?" Snow asked.

"Nope, he was just a trainer," I replied.

"Why did he stop being a trainer?" She asked next.

I hesitated, for as much as I wanted to tell her, for some reason it was hard to find the words.

"I don't think that's for me to say," I said.

I saw Snowflake's head fall and immediately felt bad. I remembered all that pain from seven years ago that seemed like it would never end and yet, for some reason when I looked at her eyes and saw her smile, the pain wasn't as intense anymore. But as much as I wanted to make her happy, I couldn't tell Ash's story, at least not like he could.

"It's just a bit hard for Ash to talk about," I began. "Even though it's been seven years since it happened, it's still hard to move on from it."

"I guess I can understand that," Snowflake agreed. "Things that happened, even though it was so long ago, I feel like I can't shake it. It's almost like a string of bad luck has always followed me around. Except for when I met you, and Ash and Pikachu."

I smiled, happy that I could make her has happy as she has made me. Thinking about her has always made me forget my own troubles, even though they are still there in my face. I decided to break down a bit, and tell her the truth about how things went so wrong for me.

"Well, if you really want me to say the story, I broke a mirror seven years ago. There's an old superstition that goes, don't break mirrors or it's seven years bad luck. I was never big into that sort of thing until I actually broke one. It seemed like ever since then my life hasn't been any better," I said.

Snow looked at me in confusion, but I guess she couldn't understand everything about human old wives' tales. But this part was sadly true, I did break a mirror seven years ago accidentally out of anger. It seemed like since that day, things have only gotten increasingly worse.

Being thoughtful I said, "You know, you never mentioned your old master. Was he the one who taught you to speak like a human?"

Snowflake nodded. "I think so," she replied. "I don't remember much about him."

"Well it has been a 1000 years," I said. "I know I wouldn't be able to remember that far back."

Snow laughed, "Wouldn't it be nice if you could?"

I laughed along with her. "I rather pass."

"But why?" Snowflake asked curiously.

"Remembering so much," I replied, "Seems like there might be more bad memories than good ones."

"My master would say, it's always the bad thoughts that help give you strength for the good thoughts," Snowflake replied.

* * *

We walked along home, just happy to enjoy each other's company, but we unfortunately came home to a dejected looking Ash sitting on the couch. His elbows were on his knees and his hands buried his face so that his hair casually graced his fingers. Pikachu was sitting by his side until he saw us, and with a happy cry, he came over to greet us.

"Pikachu!" Snowflake said with a smile, "Did you miss us?"

"Pi Pikachu!"

It was at this turn of events that Ash finally noticed us and looked up with a smile. "Hey guys," he said, "I didn't think you would be home this early. Did you have fun?"

Snowflake gathered all the books in her arms, including the ones I was holding, and bounced over to Ash happily.

"Look at all the books I got Ash," she replied, "Misty doesn't believe me when I say I can read all of these in an hour."

"Wow," Ash remarked, "I'd love to see you smash that goal. I doubt I can read five books in an hour."

I rolled my eyes and giggled. "He can't even read a newspaper article in an hour," I teased.

"Hey, it isn't my fault the pictures are distracting!" Ash replied back. And then he smiled. "Hey Snow, why don't you and Pikachu go into my room and read huh? Venusaur is in there waiting for you."

"Oh yeah!" Snowflake jumped up and down and happily said, "Let's go read Pikachu! We can totally do it with our lighting speed!"

Pikachu hopped on her shoulder as she bounded towards Ash's room, while I sat down on the couch next to Ash. Ash sighed and leaned back into his seat, tilting his head back so his eyes gazed upon the ceiling above us. I leaned forward, placing my hand on my chin, and looked to him quizzically.

"So Ash, you had a hard day?" I asked him.

He closed his eyes and sighed. "It couldn't be any harder."

My slight smile began to fade. "Alright what happened?"

I heard him sigh again and then he began to speak, "Alright so the landlady Ms. Crabapple came over today, and she brought someone with her…"

"You mean Ms. Crabble?" I interrupted.

"Whatever," he said. "Anyway she came by with this guy from the Federal Internal Affairs or something like that, and he was asking questions."

"What type of questions?" I asked.

"Well…" he sat up now and turned his head to look at me. "He was asking about Snowflake. I didn't say anything and I tried to feign innocence but it got a bit out of my control."

He went into another round of silence as he stared at the TV, I guess thinking that I would say something, but instead I urged him to continue.

"Well," he sighed again, "I kept telling him to leave and trying to cover it up but, that's when the guy started pointing at my chest and started threatening me with all these crazy ultimatums and then he had the nerve to grab my collar. So of course I shoved him off of me and he started arching back his fist like he was gonna take a swing at me, and that's when…"

"When?" I urged him again.

"That's when Pikachu came out from the back room. It was so fast I didn't even see him, nor did I have time to stop him. He gave the guy a swift Thundershock that send him back a little and then landed right back on my shoulder. Of course Ms. Crabapple saw the whole thing and started yelling and screaming at me, and then the other guy started yelling at me too, and then I started yelling back to defend myself. Well once the guy stormed off and I finally calmed down a little our landlady started squawking at me."

I couldn't help but noticed how distressed Ash looked, as if he was about to burst into tears. It hurt my heart to see him in his inner turmoil. I was about to say something until he began to speak again.

"She said since we broke the terms of service of our lease contract we have to leave. She gave us one week."

I could feel my eyes widen in absolute shock. "What?! Can she just do that?!" I asked.

"I broke the lease, Misty, no pokemon allowed remember?" Ash replied. "But I have been thinking, since Pikachu and Venusaur are my pokemon I could talk to Ms. Crabapple tomorrow and try to explain that you are innocent in all this so that way at least you can stay here and I'll leave. It's only fair."

I shook my head. "No Ash, I was the one who allowed you to stay here so therefore if you leave then I leave as well."

"But-"

"No," I interjected, "We decided when you moved in that we would go through things together right? So what kind of friend would I be if I left you in your time of need?"

"A smart friend who wouldn't hang around a person like me," Ash said.

I smiled and patted his back with my hand. "No way. I wouldn't ditch you, Ash. We're in this together no matter what, remember? If we go down we go down together and we go down fighting."

Ash looked to me and smiled slightly, then ran his fingers roughly through his hair. "God I'm so sorry Misty," he said. "This is all my fault. I wanted to protect you like the man I thought I was but at the end I only ended up making this worse."

He stood up and turned to look at me fully. "I think I could use a shower. Do you mind?"

"Ash why do you think I would keep up with your body hygiene? It's not like I'm going to come and wash your back or something," I said, rolling my eyes at him.

"Hey you know what at this point I wouldn't mind a nice back scrubbing," Ash murmured, winking at me.

I shoved him on the back playfully. "Just go already!"

I smiled as I heard his infectious laugh, then watched him enter the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. I exhaled deeply as I grabbed the remote and started flipping channels. I tried to forget the past few days but I really couldn't. With the loss of my job I probably wouldn't be able to pay rent anyway, but now with Pikachu's protective actions there was no need. I couldn't really blame the little rat, if it were me I would have punched that guy's lights out, not to mention give Ms. Crabble a few choice words. But now faced with the reality of having no money, no job, and no place to live, I realized there was only one soluble option.

Well Misty, time to swallow that foolish pride of yours.

I sighed again, finally settling on a random sitcom to watch, and leaned back on the couch. I closed my eyes, finally giving in to my stresses of the day as I listened to the sound of the shower running. My mind couldn't help but drift back, all the way back, to a long forgotten memory.

A quiet bathroom, a wet floor, a pulled back curtain, and the sound of a leaking faucet. Drip, drip, drip goes the sound, plaguing my every thought, my every emotion.

Drip. And there it was. Drip. A tub filled with water. Drip. And buried deep in the depths. Drip. Casually helpless. Drip. There laid the body. Drip. Of my deceased mother.

Drip. Her once sky blue eyes became blended with the murky water. Drip. Almost as if she was crying.

I remember hearing screaming, crying, and being pulled away, far away, from her body. And thus went the curtain, putting an end to the misery, closing her life completely. I however wasn't able to utter a sound. I don't know if it was because of the pure shock of it all, or maybe because I didn't truly understand the situation. I couldn't help but wonder, in the final moments, did she began to have doubts?

It seemed so far away now. It still felt like I could hear it. The sound of singing. Such a harmonic sound, a sweet heavenly voice, softly caressing my ear. And then she would turn to me and smile, a beautiful wide smile, and say my name, gently calling out to me, arms outstretched as if subconsciously pushing the world away from her. All of the world, except for me.

"Misty…"

I opened my eyes, with a bit of shock evident on my face, then blushed a little as I noticed Ash looking down at me. His wife beater shirt gently falling from his chest onto mine. His hands were on either side of me on the couch, his bent knees also on both sides of my body, not to mention his face was dangerous close to mine.

"Wha-What are you doing?" I whispered.

"You were crying in your sleep," his whispered back to me, his eyes filled with worry.

I gulped, feeling that familiar sudden sensation, my heart pounding loudly in my ears.

"I-I'm fine…" I whispered, a bit more faintly, feeling a tear roll down my cheek.

All of sudden, as if by instinct instead of reaction, his hand caressed my face, wiping the tear away. I shuddered, I don't know why but it felt nice feeling his hand on me...a bit too nice. Then, a more involuntary reaction, Ash quickly pulled away, muttering a "sorry" under his breath, and then stood up and cleared his throat.

"Uhm, maybe I should cook you something to eat huh?" He said, walking quickly to the kitchen. "What would you like?"

"Hamburgers!" A voice yelled from the hallway. Ash and I looked to see Snowflake bouncing up and down, Pikachu in her arms, skipping over the couch and sitting next to me.

"Oh hi Snowflake!" I exclaimed, reaching out to hug her. "Did you finish all those books already?"

It's amazing, I almost forgot she was here, after everything that's been happening.

"Yes! And they were all great!" She happily replied.

I heard Ash fumbling around the kitchen, dropping a pan and then quickly placing it on the counter.

"So," I asked next, "Out of all those books, which one was your favorite?"

"Hmm," she hummed thoughtfully, placing her hand on her chin, "I really like the story about the boys walking down the train tracks," she said. "I think they were trying to find a way home but missed the train."

I laughed gently. "Hey that's very good! You did a good job! And I bet Pikachu was a great help as well," I said, giving Pikachu a nice belly rub.

"Chaaa…" he sighed contently as Snowflake smiled.

"So you like belly rubs Pikachu?" She said. "I kind of want one too."

"Well then that can be arranged!" I stuck out my hand and rubbed it across her belly, which resulted in an eruption of laughter.

"Hahaha, that tickles!" Snow laughed, her body squirming with delight. Her laugh became infectious and soon Pikachu and I began to laugh too, trying our best to tickle her silly. It was then that I realized, no matter how crazy your day is, nothing keeps the worries away like a nice tickle.

So after we all sat down and ate dinner, which included another Pikachu ketchup lesson to Snowflake, and I safely put her in bed I began to sat down and go over our remaining finances.

"That dream you had...was it about your mother?"

The voice had broke our thirty minutes of silence and was almost unheard of because it was so low sounding.

I looked up from my paperwork. "Huh?"

"You were dreaming about your mother weren't you?" Ash asked.

I slowly looked to his seating position on the floor. He was absentmindedly fumbling around with a deck of playing cards.

I nodded. "Yes."

"It must have been hard for you...to be exposed to death so early in life," Ash murmured.

"Well you can't have life without death," I pointed out. "And besides you know how sick my mother was, so I suppose her death was...inevitable."

I couldn't help but think about her and her former position as the gym leader of Cerulean. Was it the small position of power that led her to be so unstable? Maybe the fact that my dad at died beforehand could have caused her unfortunate depression? Or maybe could she have foreseen the city's failure?

"I'm sorry, I know you don't like talking about it," Ash replied, his voice growing a bit louder. "I just thought it would help you."

I sighed, looking back down at the papers in front of me. "It doesn't look promising."

"Huh?" He perked up, causing him to lose grip on the cards in his hand and scattering them on the floor.

"I mean we don't really have enough to get a new apartment do we?" I said. "Even if we pool the rest of our savings together, we probably wouldn't have enough for a deposit."

Ash was on his knees sliding around the carpet, trying to pick up the fallen cards. "So what should we do?"

I tossed the papers beside me on the couch, and began to play with my hair. "I have no choice. I have to go into the extra account."

"Wha? But Misty that's-"

"I know, I know," I groaned, "But there's no other option. The money will help us start over, and if you want, we could actually leave Cerulean."

"Wait Misty what are you saying?" Ash looked at me. "Are you really sure you want to leave? After years of saying you would never leave?"

"My only concern is you, Ash," I replied. "I hate for you to leave your job."

Ash got up and sat down beside me, stacking the cards on top of my papers and putting them beside him. "That doesn't matter right now, besides I'm just a sub teacher I wouldn't be missed so much," he said. "What happened to all that foolish pride though, I thought you would never use the money your sisters gave you."

"I said that because then I still had my job to fall back on, but now I don't even have that and I lost my gym. Although I don't want to, that money will help us out a lot and we will be comfortable for a while. It's going to be hard but we can do it as long as we stick together," I said this affirmatively although a bit worrisome.

"Wow Misty...well I'm impressed you finally managed to come to your senses and I'm sure everything would work out, but are you sure you're willing to leave Cerulean?" Ash asked next.

I hesitated a bit, after all Cerulean is still my home no matter how poorly it's doing. But I knew in the end staying here any longer would be like going down with a sinking ship. It would be different if I was on my own, but now I had others to worry about as well.

"Yes," I nodded again, swallowing hard. "If we have to, then we have to, wouldn't we?"


	5. Chapter 5: Day 5--Snow Day

Chapter 5: Day 5-Snow Day

**Jirachi's POV**

I sniffed the air curiously. It's hard being a pokemon sometimes. I could smell it in the air, a change was coming, even though everything seems so calm and gentle. But it only takes five minutes for a soothing breeze to turn into a fierce wind.

"Jirachi…" a voice called out to me.

I turned around to come face to face with my master. I smiled, happy to see him. He smiled and pet my head. "A storm is coming," he said to me.

I widened my eyes in surprise. He could sense it too?

"It's going to be alright," he said next, "No matter what occurs, as long as we reach our goal, nothing shall be able to stop us. Or separate us."

I smiled slightly, reaching out to hug his shoulder. For a moment, it seemed, things were calm.

Then I woke up.

"Good morning, little Snow," I heard Misty say as I entered the living room.

I really began to like Misty. She had rescued me on the sands of a beach, and if it wasn't for her, I would probably still be tasting dirt. But other than that the more I spent time with her the more she began to remind me of my former master's wife. She would always sneak snacks to me, even when she was told not to, and she helped take care of me. I used to love to hide in her long golden hair.

"Well, look who's up, someone slept late. Are you hungry?" Ash said to me, a smile forming on his face.

Then there's Ash, who reminds me a lot of my former master, except his hair is shorter. Even though Ash is still just as caring and considerate as my other master I still believe that Ash might look a bit better with a beard.

I skipped over to Misty and Pikachu, grabbing Pikachu's body and rubbing onto its fur. I love the softness of Pikachu, it felt like such a pure sweet innocence I haven't felt in so long that I just couldn't get enough of it. It felt nice, and Pikachu enjoyed my rubs and reciprocated my feelings.

"So Snow, are eggs okay for you to eat or would you like something else?" Ash asked me.

"Eggs are fine," I replied with a slight nod.

"Anything special you want to do today Snow? We can dedicate this entire day just for you," Misty said.

I became starry eyed with wonder. "An entire day for me?"

"We know you won't be with us for very much longer, Snow," Ash replied, "That's why we wanted to do whatever you would like mostly so we can get closer to you."

Pikachu agreed my licking my face, which promptly made me flushed with a deep crimson color, and also caused Misty and Ash to laugh slightly.

"So what do you want to do today, Snowflake?" Misty asked me.

I sat there in thought, placing a finger to my chin. "Well…" I murmured out. Gosh this is really hard, a lot harder than I thought.

"Oh man shame on us, Misty, she hasn't really seen this city! If there's anywhere fun we could take her you would definitely know, right?" Ash replied.

Misty said nothing, but after looking at Ash and then looking back at me, she smiled broadly. "Oh yeah," she said, "I know just the place."

I looked at Pikachu in confusion, wondering what they were talking about, but it didn't take long for me to find out. Around thirty minutes later I found myself at some sort of strange trading post, where people would exchange money for little round multi colored balls in a cup that people could eat with an utensil.

"See Snow, this is an ice cream parlor," Misty explained to me. "You can have as much as you like."

I pressed my face against the glass container, peering down at all the bins of editable goodness. "Really I can have whatever I want?"

"Go for it Snow," Ash appeared behind me, holding a large cup with multiple balls of ice cream inside.

"I said whatever she wanted, not you!" Misty replied.

Pikachu laughed from on top of my shoulder, making me grin in delight. Humans sure are a strange bunch.

After we ate our ice cream, Misty suggested that we go to the movie theater, and along the way Ash tried to explain what a movie theater actually was.

"Just imagine it like the box at home but larger, and you can watch the same thing with multiple people," he said to me.

"But what if you want to change the channel?" I asked.

"Well, once you start watching you're kind of stuck, unless you want to leave early, and then you would have wasted all of your money," Ash replied.

"Well I rather not waste anything," I said. "Can we watch more than one channel?"

Misty smiled, amused at my concept of thinking, "Each movie is around two hours long sweetie," she said, "It would take us days to watch them all."

"Ah," I said.

So we watched a movie, apparently it was a comedy love story about two Eevee and a love triangle that included a furry blue and white squirrel that could shoot electricity from its cheeks. I enjoyed it a lot, but to be honest I kinda felt bad for the squirrel because it tried so hard. Either way after the long movie we walked back to the house, while I was listening to what Ash and Misty wanted for dinner, which caused a mini argument between them.

"I love hamburgers, it just sucks when you get them so much," Misty replied.

"Hamburgers are the essence of life, Misty," Ash said back, "If you can't have a good hamburger what can you have?"

"Oh I don't know, maybe a salad? Or a hot dog? Shit we might as well have fish or bacon wrapped avocados I don't know, but I'm tired of hamburgers okay. Can we get a chick and let the beef live for today?"

This resulted in Ash exploding in laughter, leaning a bit closer to me while still holding on to my hand, which he had been doing since we left the theater. "See this, little Snow, this is why you don't ask women what they want for dinner," he said to me.

"Oh please, Ketchup, in case you don't realize this, which clearly you don't, but what a woman has for dinner sets her entire mood for the rest of the night. I'm trying to make this easier on him so he doesn't have to deal with me so much," Misty replied.

"Whether it's in the evening or in the morning, there's always Mist to deal with," Ash said, a smile forming on his face.

Misty rolled her eyes and snorted, a slight chuckle being heard from her mouth. "Oh to be in the mind of a man," she said.

I couldn't help but giggle a little. Humans were strange indeed.

Later in the evening I sat in Misty's lap, waiting on Ash to get back with materials to make dinner. Although he might have moments when he means well, Ash sure has a funny way of showing his affection for Misty. An off balance relationship, but I guess one that works out for them. Misty was brushing my hair, and it felt really nice, so she decided to braid it a little for me. It was a treat, especially because I didn't know what braids were.

"I hope you enjoyed your day, Snowflake, I'm only sorry that we couldn't treat you more," Misty replied.

"It's alright, Misty, I don't mind as long as we get to spend time together," I smiled, glancing up at her.

I could see Misty's smile as she brushed my hair, and then I looked at Pikachu in my lap and began to stroke its fur. "Hey Misty, can I ask you something?" I asked her.

"Sure, sweetie, you can ask whatever you like," Misty said.

"Well...are you-are you in love with Ash?" I asked.

I could feel her heart skip a beat, and she abruptly stopped brushing my hair, but only for a moment.

"Wha-What makes you ask that?" Misty said, a bit of fear in her voice.

"Well my former master's wife had hated her husband at first. Well at least she told me she hated his guts. But one day, he saved her life, and she fell in love with him. So I thought maybe if Ash could save _your_ life-" I began, but then Misty cut me off.

"Woah there Snow, I think you've been reading too many books. Besides, if you really want to know, Ash has already saved my life, he just never knew it," Misty replied, slowly and cautiously.

"How can he save your life and not known about it?" I asked, clearly confused.

I could feel Misty's happiness, even though my back was turned, I could tell that talking about this made her a bit joyful.

"Sometimes a person can be there for you even when you least expect it, even when you don't want them to. Maybe it's a human thing, but sometimes you can be with someone and be happy without actually being _with _that person, like in a real loving relationship. It's hard to explain really, I guess pokemon go through the process of courtship a bit differently than humans do," she said.

I smiled as I could feel my hair slightly being tugged. "Not really," I replied, "Mating is more or less about finding a long lasting companion, unless you are a foolish little Pidgey."

Misty laughed, but there was a bit of sadness laced into it. "I guess I really am a foolish little Pidgey."

I couldn't help but be a bit confused over Misty. If she really did want to be with Ash, then why prolong it? And if she didn't, then why stay? Are humans really this confusing, or is it just Misty that's the confusing one? Maybe that's it, maybe Misty is just confused. Everyone gets confused sometimes, maybe Misty just needs some sort of sign…

"Hey Misty, did you know that I can grant wishes?" I said to her.

Misty replied slowly again, finishing up my hair and patting me on the back for me to get up.

"Yes, I know," she answered me.

I stood up, still holding on to Pikachu, and sat down on the couch next to her.

"What if I grant a wish of yours? You can wish for anything you like and I can do it for you."

Misty tilted her head at me, her eyes drifting from me to the floor and then back to me.

"Snowflake, if I wanted to ask you for a wish I would have done it already. I don't need anything from you."

I placed my head down, watching my fingers dance among each other, feeling a bit bad that I couldn't help Misty in her predicament.

Misty must have immediately took this for sadness and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say it that way. What I mean is, I want to be a strong independent person who isn't dependant on much. I reached out to help you, so I would feel bad if it became the other way around. Sure there are plenty of things I could wish for, but I guess what I really want is for you to be safe and sound, and happy like you should be."

I smiled, looking back up at her, "I am happy, Misty, ever since I found you and Ash, and Pikachu, I have been happy."

I was happy to see Misty's smile become brighter, and she reached over and patted my head with her hand. I loved the affection. Then Ash came in, a paper bag of goodies in his hand.

"Who's ready to eat?" He said happily.

It turns out Ash couldn't decide what to bring back from the super food market, so he decided to bring back all that he could afford, and say that he would try his hardest to cook all he can.

"Wow, Snow, I like your hair," Ash told me.

I reached up with my hands and felt my hair. For the most part it was still straight and long, except for two curled up strands of hair that started from the back of my ears and went around my head. They met in the middle, tied together by twirling the ends around one another. I smiled broadly once I noticed this, amazed at Misty's artistic talent for hair styling.

"It wasn't me, Misty did it! It really does look nice huh," I laughed.

Ash reached out and patted my head. "Just another thing to make you more beautiful," he said. I could feel my face turning red at his words, being happy that my changed look had a good reaction.

I smiled as I saw Ash place his bag of groceries on the table. "Misty, I could use some help cooking," I heard him say.

"What on earth did you buy?" Misty said, standing up from her seat.

"Well, a bit of everything," Ash replied, "Come on it's been so long since we cooked together! Then we can show Snowflake all of our favorite foods, it would be fun! Don't you want to cook with me?" Ash poked his lips out a little, giving Misty a looked that pleaded for help.

"Oh alright, just don't give me that puppy dog look I can't take it! That crap is cuter when Growlithe do it," Misty said.

Ash smiled in satisfaction seeing Misty come to him, and I watched them get started from my seat on the couch. It seemed like each other their movements seemed so coordinated; she got the pans ready while Ash emptied the contents of his bag, Ash began to cut vegetables while Misty started the water, and then Ash carved up the meat while Misty began to add the seasoning. I couldn't help but think back to my former master and his wife, how in tune they always were with each other even without trying. As much as I would have loved to stay and watch them work, my curious side got the better of me, and I went with Pikachu into Ash's room to have a little exploration adventure.

I always liked going into Ash's room, it seemed like a treasure trove of interesting scenes of Ash's past, from pictures and old notes, to tattered clothing and old trinkets. I found a keychain of a star and looking at it made me happy. Then I found an old book, that Pikachu claimed was an old journal from when Ash was first starting his journey. I couldn't help but open it and glance at the first page:

"Yes! I can't even sleep I'm so excited! Tomorrow will be the start of my pokemon journey. Look out world, I shall be the next and greatest Pokemon Master!"

I smiled at Ash's joyfulness, then began to speak to Pikachu, "I bet you and Ash must have had some incredible times together, huh," I said giggling.

Pikachu nodded, and then I turned some more pages.

"So I want to mention this girl, Misty. She has to be one of the most annoying people I have ever met! I know I was wrong for taking her bike and then trashing it in a thunderstorm, but to follow me around and annoy me about it is super unnecessary. I told her I would pay it back to her, but she's such an annoying brat she won't even give me a chance to do it! I can't wait to get enough money to get her bike back, then I can never see her again."

"Hehe, I'm guessing Misty never saw this journal has she?" I replied to Pikachu. "Well they have to get along eventually right?"

I turned a few more pages until I came upon another entry.

"I must say I seen a new side of Misty tonight. I ventured inside the Lavender Tower, alone because the others were too chicken to follow me, but I was in desperate need of catching a ghost type pokemon to defeat Sabrina. Anyway that's when the strange phenomena happened. A crazy accident caused a chandelier to fall on top of Pikachu and I, and the next thing I knew, I was staring at my own body that was down below me! Then I looked around to see Haunter, one of the very pokemon that I was wanting to capture, right in front of me. So, since I was befriended, I decided to play a little joke on Misty. I saw her standing outside of the tower, awaiting my return, and I snuck up behind her and grabbed her hips. Seeing her scream in confusion was too much, and I ended up grabbing her and lifting her into the air. I hoisted her about ten feet and then dropped her in Brock's arms, laughing my butt off.

But after it was all said and done and I said my goodbyes to the pokemon, the first face I see when I awake was none other than Misty's. I could tell she was crying...crying for me. I never thought I see the day when I could say that I think she likes me a bit more now. I can't help but wonder, how much do I mean to Misty anyway? A part of me is a bit afraid to ask…"

"So it was a slow growing relationship," I murmured. "So then why-"

A shock went through my core of my body while I was in mid-sentence, causing me to look around in shock and confusion. "S-something's off.." I whispered to Pikachu.

Pikachu also seemed to sense my emotions, galloping towards the window and trying to peek out of it.

I crawled over to the window, kneeling beside Pikachu. "What do you see, Pikachu?"

I peeked through the plastic blinders connected to the window to see a strange object floating in the air. It had a small square shaped body, with four legs that connected to each other on either side of its body. Its four long arms branched out and a bit upward from its body, holding wings that flapped in a particular odd fashion, twirling around in a spiral, like how a royal jester juggles a multitude of rings with both arms.

"I never seen a pokemon like this," I stated, "Have you, Pikachu?"

Before I could wonder any further, the said pokemon was starting to fly away. "Ah, wait!" I whispered loudly.

Without thinking much I had cracked open the window, ushering Pikachu to crawl out while I crawled out behind him.

Upon crawling out we were at the mercy of the darkness surrounding us, and the cool air that was carefully placed onto the balcony on which were standing. I crouched down, almost to my knees, and crept forward a bit with Pikachu at my ankles.

"Let's stay in the shadows, Pikachu. We don't want to cause the pokemon to attack us," I murmured.

Pikachu agreed and we inched closer to the flying pokemon, who was hovering above the door of the house. Then, as we crept closer and without much warning, the pokemon turned back around and looked at us with its one eye. This scared the crap out of us, causing us to shake in fear before running with the quickness back to the cracked open window. We crawled in quickly, and being afraid that the weird pokemon would come after me, I hid under the covers of Ash's bed.

After a few minutes of tense breathing I poked my head out from the covers. I looked around to see Pikachu next to me, looking at me questioningly.

"I don't want that thing near me," I replied. "I got a very bad feeling from it."

Pikachu asked if I was really sure about that, and I nodded. Then I heard Ash call my name.

"Snow, come here you got to try this!" Ash yelled out.

I quickly looked to Pikachu, talking quietly, "We shouldn't tell Ash and Misty about this either," I said. "It could be detrimental. I don't want to worry them after they went through so much trouble of making me feel comfortable."

Pikachu began to protest, saying that the information might be necessary so that they could protect me.

"It's alright, Pikachu," I said, coming out from under the covers, "I'll be fine, after all I have you to protect me." I winked at him and walked towards the door. "Come on, let's see what Ash has for us!"

I practically danced out the room, feigning innocence, letting my worries sail out the window. Turns out Ash had a salad he was holding, something that Misty made, and was more than happy to let me try it. Tasting the leaves was really nice, but looking at all the food they were preparing just only made me hungrier.

Misty smiled at me, "We hope you like this, Snowflake," she said, "We want to give you a feast you won't forget."

I smiled happily, looking at the dozens of small dishes of different delectable foods in front of me. I reached out to one plate in particular, touching a long string of something soft, and held it in my hand.

"It's a fried potato!" Ash said excitedly. "I cooked those! Try them, they're really good!"

I tried a bite, and although it was a little hot, it was still really good. Then I couldn't help but frown a bit. Misty noticed this as she carried out another plate of meat.

"Hey, why the long face, Snow?" she asked.

I looked up at her and said, "This is all great, but how am I going to eat it all?"

Misty smiled, putting her hands on her hips after setting the plate down. "Don't worry about that, I'm sure Ash will be able to eat enough for all of us!"

She laughed as Ash rolled his eyes. "I'm really not that bad," Ash told me. "You should see Misty whenever she's hungry.."

Ash laughed as Misty hit his arm with the back of her hand. I giggled along too, happy that everyone else was happy. For now, things seemed to be nothing but smooth sailing. I couldn't help but wonder though, just why was that pokemon, if it even was a pokemon, looking at me from outside the window?


	6. Chapter 6: Day 6--Stormy Weather

Chapter 6: Day 6-Stormy Weather

**Ash's POV**

"This rain is making me sleepy," I said, yawning loudly.

Misty sat next to me on the couch, her long reddish brown hair dancing and twirling around her fingertips.

"It would be a nice day to stay in, if I didn't have to go to the bank first," she said. For some reason her voice sounded softer than usual today. Maybe it's the weather.

"Would you like me to go instead?" I asked.

The young woman gingerly shook her head, standing up to stretch. "It's alright," she said, "I won't be gone long."

"Can I come?" A voice said from the hallway. It was bouncy Snowflake, being as curious as ever.

"Well I wouldn't want the rain to make you sick, sweetie," Misty replied, a small smile forming on her face. "Don't worry, I'll be back soon and then we can play together."

Snowflake smiled broadly, bouncing up and down while Pikachu came out of my room and sat on the couch next to me.

Misty then turned back to me. "I'll be back soon, promise," she said.

"Be safe," I replied. Misty nodded and placed her hoodie on her head as she walked out the door. I heard her kicking her kickstand on her bike and speeding off, right as the wind began to pick up a bit more speed.

Meanwhile during all this Snowflake bounded over to me and sat down in Misty's former seat. Her smile was absolutely adorable, and her bright baby blue eyes sparkled, even though it was such a dark and dreary day. With her on one side of me, and Pikachu on the other, I felt like I was at the wrong end of a slice of cutie apple pie.

So I decided it was time to start the morning. "So Snowflake, are you hungry? What would you like to do first?" I asked her.

Snowflake shook her head, and then asked me a question I was least expecting.

"Are you and Misty a couple?"

"Huh?" I said.

"Are you and Misty a couple?" she repeated.

Well this was the last question I was ready to answer this early in the morning.

"A couple of what?"

"A couple of…" Snowflake trailed off, trying to figure out the next word to say. "A couple of scoops of ice cream in a bowl!"

I laughed loudly, while I could see Pikachu looking from me to Snowflake with this confused look on his face.

"Well, now I can't say that I've never heard that one before," I remarked.

"Well you two are always together," she went on, "And I thought only couples sleep in the same room together."

I looked to her with a raised eyebrow. "And where did you get all this from?"

"From the books I read!" Snow smiled happily. "I remember this story about this man and woman who started off as friends but then ended up married with children."

I gulped inwardly. "Perhaps that isn't really something a child should be reading…"

It was at this Snowflake stood up from the couch and placed her hands on her hips, clearing getting offended. "Did you forget? I'm not a child! I should let you know that I can shapeshift into anything I wanted to, even an old woman if I have to! Would you like an example?"

"Uh, no no," I said nervously. To be honest I was afraid of what exactly would she change into. "I totally believe you, completely! No need to doubt my beliefs whatsoever! Nope not at all!"

Snowflake huffed, and changed places to sit back down next to me, but this time taking Pikachu's seat as she placed him on her lap. I quietly breathed a sigh of relief. I think I totally dodged a bullet there.

"So are you both a couple or not?" She asked again.

I sighed and said, "Well depends, because there's a lot of different couples. You could have a couple of pokemon, or a couple like brother and sister, or a couple like husband and wife."

"Soooo which one are youuuu?" Snowflake said, smiling at me as if she was catching me in some kind of trap. I think she's secretly enjoying this.

"Well…" I did feel like I was backed into a corner, so maybe the only option was to come clean. "Misty and I are close, but I don't think we are close enough to actually be like girlfriend/boyfriend material. I mean it's not that I wouldn't mind, it's just that I don't really think I can handle being in such a relationship."

"Do you feel...uncomfortable being close to someone?" She asked next.

"What are you, some sort of shrink or something?" I said, running my fingers through my hair.

"Pikachu," Pikachu replied.

"Pikachu says you're hiding something," Snowflake said, another devious smile running across her face.

"Yeah I'm hiding my embarrassment," I replied. I buried my head in my arms. How did it get to this?

"I happen to agree with Pikachu, I think there is something else you're hiding...maybe about a certain woman whose name begins with Mi and ends with sty?"

I suddenly jolted up from the couch, eager to do anything to change the subject. "Hey who's ready for breakfast huh? How about an omelet?"

Snowflake nodded, the same smile on her face. "Okay!"

Pikachu wholeheartedly agreed happily, but I couldn't help but wonder if he ever told Snowflake anything about my true feelings...ah who am I kidding Pikachu wouldn't do that to me, right? Well actually, maybe he would…

* * *

After about an hour of eating, and watching tv to mask my inner torment, Misty finally came back home. It was then that Snowflake and I were getting into a good game of 52 pickup.

She was taking off her raincoat as she came through the door. "Ash, please don't say you been teaching her how to play poker," she said.

"What? Of course not don't be ridiculous," I scoffed, rolling my eyes at her.

"He tried but then I beat him," Snowflake said, placing a card on her forehead.

"Hey you weren't supposed to say anything!" I exclaimed, I could feel my cheeks getting hotter as Misty's eyes pierced right through me.

She licked her tongue out at me playfully as Misty kneeled down beside her. "Well I'm glad you had fun, sweetie," she placed her arm around her shoulders as she looked at me, "Even though Ash is a terrible teacher."

"Not funny, Mist," I said with a smile, watching her roll her eyes at me. "So, uhm, did you get it?"

Misty nodded. "Yeah, good news is it was a bit more than I was expecting. I guess it was because of all the years it spent gathering interest. It's just too bad it's raining, I think today wouldn't be such a bad day to try to get Snow to Mt. Moon."

"Actually going under the cover of the rain might not be so bad, it might be able to hide us better," I suggested.

Misty shook her head. "It's hard to keep cover from the rain while moving," she said, "Besides, we would be so obvious anyway, a man, a woman, a girl and two pokemon heading out of the city."

"It just seems like there's no easy way to make our move," I said, putting my hand on my chin. "Either way, rain or sun, night or day, we are still running a risk."

"Maybe we should just stuff her in a suitcase and make a run for it," Misty joked.

"Ohh can we get a suitcase with wheels?" Snowflake said, her smile once again preceding her.

Misty giggled and I couldn't help but smile at her cuteness. "Misty," I started up again, "I know you don't want to do this but trust me, moving under the cover of a raining night isn't such a bad idea. We would be less likely to be seen and we might actually get there faster."

"It's hard to move in the rain, Ash," Misty counteracted. "And we would be out in the cold for too long, not to mention we have no medicine in case something goes wrong."

"Exactly! If my pokemon were to waste all their energy in a battle-"

"Wait!" Snowflake interrupted.

It was so sudden it caught all of us unawares, but then she continued, "My special abilities allows me to heal your pokemon, and I can get you to and from safely...but the only catch is...I would have to transform back into my pokemon form."

"What?!" Misty exclaimed.

"No," I said, "We can't allow you to do that, it's too risky!"

"But you both have risked your lives for me, why can't I do the same?" She said.

"Because I won't let you get caught for some experiment to make someone else richer while you suffer," I said. "Obviously you have held some kind of meaning towards us, otherwise we wouldn't try to go through this much trouble."

Snowflake huffed and folded her arms. Misty wrapped her arm around her again.

"Snow, we only doing this to protect you, we just don't want you to get hurt okay?" Misty said. Her voice was so sweet and calm it eased Snow's anger almost instantly.

"Okay…" Snow's voice was calm, yet sad, and with nothing left to say she picked up more cards and began to shuffle them in her hands.

I looked down to the carpet below, feeling a little bad for losing my cool a little, I felt I need to get away to calm down.

"I should go get some things together, so we can be prepared and everything…" I mumbled, standing up and walking to my room.

"I'm sorry Snow," I could hear Misty say, "He just gets a bit protective sometimes."

"It's okay," Snowflake replied, "It was kind of a stupid idea."

"Nonsense sweetie," Misty said back, "Ash just get kind of dense when it comes to knowing what a woman really wants. He kind of believes that as the man he's supposed to make all the decisions."

I rolled my rolled my eyes, sort of nonchalantly, and grabbed an old sleeping bag from my closet. It was a bit torn and dusty, but nothing a few good shakes and a wet towel can't fix. I also grabbed some clothes from my dresser drawers, folded them, and placed them in my backpack. It seemed like doing this brought back so many memories, like getting ready for my first day as a pokemon trainer...although now that I remember, my mom did most of that work. I was about to head down memory lane when I heard a knock on my door.

I looked up to see a tiny yellow headed girl looking at me, a slight smile gracing her lips, her shiny blue eyes peering at me with unbridled curiosity.

"Misty wants to know if you want some ice cream," she said, her fingers fumbling with her dress.

I couldn't help but smile. "No thanks, oh but hey I want to ask if you could do me a favor."

"Really? Sure!" She began to bounce up and down happily.

"Well, I just wanted to know if you could ask Venusaur and Pikachu how they really feel about me. After all it's been so long since they been with me, and since they don't really have pokeballs, they are actually considered wild pokemon. But why stay with me, I'm not even a trainer...could you ask them that for me?"

"Ah I see, okay then I'll ask!" She said, still bouncing like a little ball of fire.

I smiled again. "Alright, oh and now that I think about it, I think I'll take that bowl of ice cream."

"Really, yay! Misty said I could only have a bowl if you had one." And with that she turned around and bounded off, eager to complete the task I gave her.

I bent back down to complete my own task, but a mighty roar of thunder halted my thoughts, bringing in another round of rain. Maybe if Misty agrees with me, traveling in the rain would be a lot easier than traveling on a clear sunny day. After all those goons will be less likely to see us than they would if it was a clear day. We might look awkward, but at least we'll be safe, and I'm determined to protect everyone, no matter how wet I have to get to do so.

"You really wanting to leave aren't you?" Misty said to me.

I was half way through my ice cream by this moment, and I could still hear the sound of faint raindrops on the window.

"I think it's best," I said gently.

Misty sighed deeply, looking to Snowflake, whose eyes were darting between Misty and I.

"Alright," Misty spoke up again, "Let's get everything together then."

"R-Really?" I sputtered out.

"Ash, this could be the only time in our lives where I finally agree with you, I suggest you take it," Misty replied, shoving another spoon of ice cream in her mouth.

"Alright! Pikachu get Venusaur ready, late tonight we make our move," I said.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu playfully saluted me and ran off in Misty's room.

"Ash, I still need time to get my stuff together-"

"Don't worry," I interrupted Misty, "Venusaur takes a while to get going."

Misty nodded, and began to eat more ice cream. "Good, I'm going to need my strength."

Snowflake smiled at us fondly, as if remembering something.

"You okay, Snow?" I asked.

Snowflake nodded. "Mhm, you both just remind me of my former master and his wife, they would have little arguments all the time."

"You're former master had a wife, huh? That must have been fun," I said.

"Yeah, it was, we all would go on all sorts of adventures together!" Snowflake replied, her eyes lighting up in joy. "But then…"

"But then what?" I asked.

Snow's eyes reflected a glimmer of sadness, and she placed her bowl down on the table. "My master died in a war, and the wife was left all sad and alone."

We had grew quiet, and Misty and I looked at each other in silent understanding. "I'm sorry," I began to say.

It was then that Snow's head popped back up, and a smile appeared on her face again, although a bit more strained. "It's okay," she said, "My master might have taught me a lot in those few short days we were together, but he taught me something super important. He taught me that even though it can be hard, sometimes you have no choice but to fight for the things you believe in. Even if you die in the process, if someone has been touched by your actions, then it's all worth it, right?"

Snowflake's smile got even brighter, and she even giggled a little.

"Besides," she continued, "My former master might have been brave, but he wasn't the smartest fighter around to be honest."

I began to laugh, and Snowflake giggled until she snapped up, as if remembering something.

"Oh! I almost forgot! Pikachu and Venusaur wanted me to tell you something!"

"Really, what?" I asked.

"Well Venusaur still loves you, even after all this time, and doesn't want to leave on his own. The only thing he doesn't like is the fact that his pokeball broke and you haven't gotten him a new one yet. So maybe you might want to do that. Pikachu also says he loves you, but he would love you more...if you went on a journey together!" Snow smiled and clasped her hands together, then picked up her bowl and began sipping on the rest of her melted ice cream.

"Ah yeah, I figured that," I laughed softly, rubbing the back of my head.

"It figures I bet Venusaur would love it if you traveled again too," Misty agreed.

"Why don't you travel, Ash? I bet it must be nice seeing the world and everything," Snowflake said.

Once again, Snow brought up the subject of me traveling. It was a sensitive topic for me but I figured it was finally time I stopped dodging the question. I sighed heavily and began to speak.

"Well, around seven years ago, something happened that made me lose all inspiration for traveling, and I haven't really been wanting to get back out there."

"What happened?" She asked next.

"Well...my mother died."

It was a tense few seconds of silence, I was expecting it but I wasn't prepared for Snowflake's smile fading and becoming a sad frown. It was at this that I could feel my heart breaking. For some reason seeing Snow's sadness couldn't help but make me sad. I looked to Misty, who's eyes seem to reflect my emotions.

"I'm...sorry…" she said solemnly.

"It's quite alright," I reassured her, "I was heartbroken for a while but it was Misty here who brought me to where I am today. Maybe someday I'll go traveling again but I'm just not ready for the moment."

"I think he's scared, but that's just my personal opinion," Misty interjected.

"Hey hold on, I'm not scared of anything," I said. I swear she always has to show me up and make me look foolish sometimes.

"Ash, I hate to break it to you but it has been seven years," Misty said, stating the obvious, "You can easily go traveling whenever you want to but you don't. You just stay here and suffer when you can obviously strike it out on your own and do what you really want to do."

"Oh and this is coming from the girl who was too stubborn to take a wad of cash that was placed in front of her," I struck back, causing the red-headed girl to shoot killer daggers at me. "You want to call me a sufferer but aren't you just creating your own suffering?"

The stubborn red-headed girl grew quiet, poking her lips out and narrowing her eyes, folding her arms tightly and I could tell the gears were turning in her head trying to create a snappy comeback.

"Pikachu!"

We turned to hear Pikachu's cry and we saw him standing next to Venusaur.

"Alright then, let's do this," Misty stood up now, heading towards her room. "I'll be right back."

As soon as she was out of sight, I let go of a deep breath I didn't realize I had been holding. Pikachu came up and took his usual spot on my shoulder, while Venusaur waddled next to me, roaring slightly and wanting affection. I reached out and touched his head, rubbing it affectionately. I then bent over and kissed his forehead, smiling softly.

"You know, it was Venusaur who woke me up and tried to tell me of my mother's passing. Venusaur was always more in tune with people and pokemon more than anyone I know," I replied.

"I'm sorry," Snowflake said again, "I didn't mean to cause any trouble."

"You? Trouble? Don't be sorry Snow, Misty and I have that same argument every year," I said. After seeing the curious look on her face I went on to say, "We have both been creating our own suffering I'm afraid to admit, for the past seven years now. Truthfully I'm not sure why, maybe deep inside we are both scared to face the truth. Maybe one day I'll go traveling again, but I just can't now. I can't bring myself to do it."

A few minutes later, Misty emerged from her room, sporting her dark blue bookbag.

"Alright," she said, "Let's go."


	7. Chapter 7: Night 6--Unraveling

Chapter 7: Night 6-Unraveling

**Misty's POV**

It was early the next morning when we left, as at that time even the sun was still sleeping. The rain came down softly on our heads. It almost seemed like kisses from heaven. I looked up and gazed at the sky, which was filled with clouds that were slowly clearing. It seemed like in the end we both got what we wanted, Ash got his wish of traveling at night and I got mine of not being rained on so much.

And so we biked out of the city, me on my bike and Ash on his, Snowflake riding almost effortlessly sitting on Ash's handlebars. It has been a long time since I even left Cerulean, I guess over the years I have become a bit of a hermit crab, but better late than never I suppose.

The rain started to come down a bit harder as we left the city, but Ash and I were still able to bike pedal next to each other. I looked at Snowflake, who seemed to the one having the most fun, with her bright smile and blue eyes as if eager to see what was ahead. To be honest having her around gave me much more confidence, almost as if nothing could go wrong.

Up ahead of us I could see the top of Mt. Moon on the horizon, but nearer to my frame of view I could see a plastic blockade, with a red detour sign and an arrow pointing to the right.

"Oh no are they still doing construction on this old road?" I asked despondent.

"C'mon Mist, you know they've been working on this road for a while. Don't worry, I know a shortcut," Ash said.

"Really? Is it more reliable than the where the detour is leading us?" I asked.

"Oh yeah it's really fast. Oh by the way, you brought your bug repellant spray right?" Ash said to me, a slight smile forming on his face.

"Yeah I brought it, hey wait we aren't going through the forest are we?!"

Ash shook his head slowly. "I still can't believe after all this time, you're still afraid of bugs."

My body began to shake, I'm not sure if it was from the cold or just the fear of getting close to a bug, but I angrily took out my spray and began to spritz it all over me.

"Shut up Ketchup, like you've never been afraid of anything when you were a child."

Ash smiled again as he caught the spray bottle I threw at him. "Well there was this on time when I was young and this Rattata that had crawled out from our floodboards somehow ended up in our refrigerator. I remember mom opening up the door and this Rattata comes flying out like a Pidgey and scared the crap out of her. I swear I don't think she went in the kitchen for like a week."

"That doesn't count," I said, taking the bug spray back from him, "That's a moment your mom got scared not you."

I rolled my eyes as Ash tried to explain how "scared" he actually was and ignored him by riding off into the Viridian forest sidetracks. Of course, I sort of immediately regretted this decision, after all being in the forest late at night, during a rainstorm all alone was not how I wanted to spend my morning.

Once Ash and Snowflake caught up with me Snow, curiosity once again getting the best of her, wanted to ask me a question.

"So Misty, how did you become afraid of bugs?"

I turned around to face her, and her bubbly smile, placing one of my hands on the seat.

"Well," I began, "You see when I was little one of my sisters, I still don't know who, thought it would be funny to place a Weedle in my bed sheets while I was sleeping. I woke up the next morning to a Weedle staring at me in the face. I think the little bugger was more scared than I was because it sprayed its webs all over me. I was covered and it took my sister all day to pry it off of me. And I've been afraid ever since."

"That doesn't sound all too scary to me," Ash teased.

"Did I mention I was five? That's a lot for a little girl to go through! Not to mention the Gyarados incident…" I shivered.

"Gyarados?" Snowflake repeated.

It was then that I realized it probably wasn't worth telling that story at the moment. "Alright let's keep going, the faster we can get out of these woods the better."

And so we pedaled on, the rain petals still falling on us. It was sort of a quiet out, all that could be heard was the sound of our tires crushing the leaves beneath them. As five minutes turned to ten, another crack on the thunder whip was heard from above, bringing in a mighty gust of wind through us. I could hear a small flock of Pidgey flapping their wings, as if washing themselves with the fresh falling water. I thought this would be smooth sailing, until the wind snapped a tree branch off which had nearly fallen on top of me, but only ended up landing in front of me. It startled me so much I had to brake myself just to prevent rolling over it and messing up my tires.

Ash stopped next to me, looking at me a bit worriedly. "Are you alright?" He asked.

I took a deep breath. "I'm fine," I said with an aspirated breath. Then a bit more calmly I said, "Ash where is the exit to this place? We've been traveling for like twenty minutes now it shouldn't be this long."

I could see Ash's eyebrows furrowing, his eyes clouded with worry. "Misty, usually this path I walk only takes me five or ten minutes...usually."

"It is because of the rain? Did we make a wrong turn?" I asked.

"We haven't made any turns, we've been going straight this entire time," Ash clarified. "All we can do now is keep going. We should be out soon."

He began to ride ahead a bit and I followed, until I could see this bright light out of the corner of my left eye. I turned to the left, but I had little time to react as I felt this huge force push me backwards, pushing me into the trunk of a tree with my bike nearly crashing on top of me.

I could hear Ash and Snowflake screaming my name as they ran over to me. Ash crouched down next to me and looked at me. "Are you alright?" I heard him say.

All I could do was slowly nod. It felt like I just got hit by a car, and it seemed like every part of me became paralyzed, in total shock of what was going on around me. Then, just like another bolt of lightning, I could see another bright flash of light coming towards us. But I didn't have the strength to scream, nor the energy to point forward and warn Ash of our impending doom. Before I even knew it, I felt my body lifting off the ground, as if an unknown force was carrying me. There was so much light in my eyes I thought for sure that I was on my way to heaven.

And then, I became surrounded by impeding darkness, as I fell hard to the ground below.

The next thing I knew, besides the overwhelming silence, I felt that I was slowly being lifted again. I tried to break free and find my way around, but I couldn't even see let alone feel what was actually around me. I felt so groggy, like I got hit by a freight train, and my body was going to collapse any second. I could hear voices. Then I voice I felt like I should remember. Ash? Was it Ash? Where are you, Ash?

I tried to speak but it was like either my mouth was too dry, or maybe I just couldn't hear my own words. I felt like I was underwater, being held by a mysterious force, and hearing muffled voices around me, but being unable to react.

C'mon Misty, I willed myself, don't go out like this. I shook my head, at least I think I was shaking it, and tried to stand up on my own feet, problem is I couldn't move my arms. What was I being held by?

"Let her go you bastards! She has nothing to do with this!"

Well that's definitely Ash's voice. But why was he angry? I slowly opened my eyes, my dark world becoming filled with color, well gray color anyway. First thing I saw was the grass beneath me, only to realize that I have been standing this whole time, I could see trees in front of me and the rain coming down from above me. I tried to move my arms only to realize that they were being held back by this stringy, hard substance that felt like a cord, curling around my hands.

Another voice spoke up, an unfamiliar male voice, "You still don't understand do you? You don't realize the situation you are in? This girl...or should I say pokemon, is nothing but trouble to our society! You understand that don't you?" He grabbed Snowflake roughly by the hair, pulling her off the ground.

Her strangled gasp caused me to scream out involuntarily, "Please don't hurt her!"

Ash turned to me, wide eyed, "Misty! You're alright thank goodness!" He turned back to the man who held Snowflake by the hair. "She's not a pokemon you idiot! She's just a human girl!"

He smiled viciously, such a dark smile that was only complimented by his long messy dark hair. "You are determined to defend her aren't you? Or are you just stupid? Perhaps this will change your mind…" He brought out a small device from his blue pants pocket, it was small and rectangular, almost like a pokegear.

"You see this," he continued, "Is our special GPS tracking device used for our pokemon. All we do is place a chip in the pokemon's body and we can track its whereabouts for as long as we want, well at least until the chip dissolves anyway. It's quite handy."

He placed the tracker near Snowflake's trembling body, moving it downward until it neared the pit of her stomach, where the chip that was placed inside her had began to glow a bright yellow. Ash and I both stood in silence, no longer able to defend the fact that Snowflake was actually a human girl.

I let my head fall, feeling my red stained hair touching my face. "You bastards…" I whispered.

"Now you see?" He said, a gratifying smile crossing his face, "This girl is none other than Jirachi, the infamous legendary pokemon! Isn't that right, Jirachi?" At this he grabbed her head and slammed it down to the ground.

"Stop it!" Ash yelled out. "You're hurting her! Let her go!" He tried to run forward but was being held back by two other men behind him. That's when I realized we were surrounded this whole time, and probably had no way of ever reaching the edge of this forest.

The man smiled, picking up Snowflake's unconscious body. He motioned to the men around us, and before we could even had a moment to prepare, we were already being dragged away. I had no choice but to come along quietly, but Ash on the other hand, was so loud and rambunctious I had to tell him several times to shut the hell up before they kill us. Nevertheless, we weren't hurt, and I couldn't help but wonder why. Were they preparing us for something?

* * *

A little while later we were placed in this bare cell, with hay and dirt on the floor chains hanging from the ceiling and metal bars on the one window we could see. The moon just barely peeked in through this window, creating a little light for us to see our surroundings.

Ash, still a ball of energy, quickly stood up and rubbed his sore wrists. "Those bastards," He muttered. "Dammit this whole thing was a fucking setup."

"You know, it doesn't help much to swear," I murmured.

Ash looked to me, his eyes like wildfire. "You know, it's almost as if you don't care about what they are doing to Snowflake right now! Who knows what could she could be going through, so scared and afraid, worried and alone, it pisses me off!" He stomped his foot, kicking up dust along the ground.

"And you think that yelling is going to solve all our problems? We have take a moment and think rationally about this, Ash. Otherwise we will never get out of here and Snowflake will be…" I trailed off, my lip quivering. I didn't want to think of her as dead, but at this point I couldn't help but think how she might end up, not to mention us.

Ash knelt down next to me. "Oi, Mist, don't cry look I'm sorry okay? I'm just really scared right now I just wanna get out of here and get to Snow already!"

I looked at him, smiling softly, "I know Ash, I know."

He let go of a heavy sigh and sat down next to me. "So," he began to whisper, "Got any ideas?"

I swear he's still such a kid, even at twenty-one. I silently shook my head no. This was answered with another heavy sigh, and a surprising moment of silence. I looked out the window, watching the clouds start to cover up the light of the moon, then I turned my attention back to the ground, carving my name into the dirt.

"You know I heard those group of men talking about a Castform," Ash whispered, breaking the silence again.

"Huh?" I said, snapping out of my thoughts.

"Well you remember Castform don't ya, Misty?" He replied, "It has the ability to change its typing and moves based on the weather. So that means that Castform was probably the one who caused that huge storm in the forest."

"So that move we got attacked by was-"

"It was probably Weather Ball," Ash replied again. Now it was my turn to sigh. We really were doomed from the beginning.

"I was also thinking, that maybe the reason why we were trapped in that forest for so long was because we somehow got confused and disoriented. I really doubt it was because of the rain and wind. Maybe a Confuse Ray attack, placed at the right opportunity, could be enough to silently throw us for a loop," Ash said.

"They knew we were going to take that shortcut, and were waiting for us the whole time! Ah, if only we were better prepared for this…" I said despondently.

"I'm sorry Misty, if only I had listened to you and left in the morning, we might have been better off. Dammit," Ash said, slamming his hand on the ground, pushing up another dust storm.

"It's not your fault," I said. "If they really were waiting for us they would have caught us either way, day or night."

We both sighed at the same time. "We really are screwed aren't we?" I said, a soft chuckle to my voice.

Ash placed his hand on his chin, while the other rested in his lap. Then, like a bolt of lightning, he shot up to his feet. "Maybe not, Pikachu and Venusaur are still waiting for us at the way point right? Then we might have a chance…"

He began to crouch down to the ground, taking a scoop of dirt and rubbing it through his hands.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"I saw this on a documentary once," He explained, "Lost pokemon were able to find their masters by picking up on their scents in the air. If I used the combined scent from me and this place and blow it in the air, my pokemon might be able to pick up on it and find us!"

I rolled my eyes. "Ash, it's a nice thought, but I doubt that will-"

"C'mon just trust me on this," He interrupted me, rubbing more dirt in his hands. He then scooped up all the dirt he could in the palm of his hands, cupping it gently as he walked to the window, and then gently blew on it until it was out of his hands and flying out the window. He then went back to the same spot and started to repeat the process.

"Are you going to help me?" He asked, a sad little puppy dog look on his face.

I rolled my eyes again in annoyance, but seeing as I had no ideas myself, I had no choice but to help join the cause. Who knows, Ash's braindead schemes always seemed to work before...sometimes…

After blowing all the dust we could through the barred window, we could do nothing more but sit back in our abysmal surroundings, unsure of whether or not we would even survive tomorrow. We both leaned backs on the wall, my head on Ash's shoulder as his head leaned back and touched the wall. My mind couldn't help but drift back to memories of my mother, and my sisters, and how I was beginning to wish I could have taken that money sooner. Maybe I could have bought a nice mansion somewhere. What would be a good city to live in? Celedon? Vermilion? Maybe Fuchsia, since it's by the ocean. Ah who am I kidding, maybe I should have lived dangerously and just left the region altogether. I guess in the end my sisters had good intentions, even though they went through it in a selfish way in my eyes.

We sat in silence for the next few minutes, until Ash's voice softly rang across the room.

"So, do you have any regrets?" He asked.

"Huh?" I said.

"You know, any regrets, about life and whatnot?" He said again.

"About life? Too many to name. I guess if I had a choice I would have prevented my gym from going under," I replied.

"But then you would have probably never met Snowflake," Ash suggested.

"Maybe. Okay maybe I could change...all those crappy guys I went out with," I said.

"Oh yeah! Like that guy, uhm Harold, who was secretly married to his cousin, remember him?" Ash exclaimed, slightly chuckling.

"Oh geez," I rolled my eyes again, "Hey that guy was pretty okay, I actually liked him."

"Until he married his cousin right?" Ash teased.

"I didn't know that until after we broke up," I said.

"Was that before or after you called his house just to call him a dense, dim-witted, dufus?" Ash asked, starting to laugh.

"Maybe a little after…" I said, beginning to smile myself. "Oh c'mon like you never had a girl who wasn't a little off."

"Please," Ash started, "At least my women didn't have an inferiority complex, like that guy with the mohawk who had that motorcycle remember?"

"Oh really, what about that girl with the sixth toe?" I retaliated.

"She also had a third nipple, but don't ask how I knew that," Ash replied.

"Alright, alright, so we all made our mistakes and had our fair share of screwups, but at least we learned from them. At least I have anyway, and maybe I have moved a bit fast in my relationships, but I learned to go a bit slower than I was before," I said.

"So have I believe me," Ash agreed, "Besides, there's no need to go so fast anyway. If only we would have taken our time earlier, maybe all of this would have never happened."

I sighed, "Maybe, but no one can really be sure."

There was another few moments of silence, until Ash spoke again, "You know how nice it was to have her around? It was like all my worries sort of went away with her near me."

I nodded slightly, a bit glad for the change in subject. "I know what you mean."

"It was weird," Ash continued, "Almost like I was a dad taking care of my child, it felt so unreal you know?"

I nodded again, humming softly.

"It made me wonder if I could ever have a child someday. I never thought of that before, but you know what, I kind of wouldn't mind if I did," he replied.

It was at this that it felt like small sparks going through my body. I never thought in a million years that Ash would even think of having children. I couldn't help but want the same thing over the past few years, but such is a fleeting dream.

I moved my head off his shoulder, sitting up straight and placing my hands in my lap. "I guess a part of me has always wanted a family," I replied, "I guess that's why I jumped so much from guy to guy. But I couldn't even find a person worth marrying let alone having a child with."

Ash looked at me closely, as if trying to see something in my eyes, but I had my head down at the time. He sat up too, stretching a little. He started to laugh a bit, which actually ticked me off a little.

"What?!" I snapped.

"No, no its just, I didn't think we would ever be on the same thinking level, especially bout such a crazy topic like having children," Ash said, a smile gracing his face. "How come we never talked about this?"

"Well would you really want to sit down with me as I tell you I would like to have a child with another guy?" I responded. "It's not proper dinner conversation you know."

"I know, it's just, you think you know a girl, and then she goes from being a tomboy to having children," Ash said, "It's a bit startling."

"Well, don't worry, it will never happen anyway," I retorted.

"What? Aw, don't worry, we'll get out of here and things will be fine," Ash reassured me, patting me on my back.

"No, I mean...I mean...I am unable to have a child," I whispered.

I glanced at Ash to see his eyes widening in shock. "Wait, what?! Seriously?" He asked.

"C'mon you think I would lie about something like that?" I asked back, clearly getting aggravated.

"Gosh, I'm sorry Misty," Ash murmured, sadness evident in his voice, "I didn't know...I mean why? Did something happen?"

I looked up at the ceiling as I sighed heavily. "Well I guess it was 'bout four years ago," I began. "I felt sort of out sorts for some reason so I went to the doctor. So when they did some tests on me they found this little...well very small sort of problem...and it was essentially harmless so they removed it."

"You mean like a tumor?" Ash interrupted.

"It was benign," I stated, "And so small that it was easy to remove. But the only side effect was that a part of my reproductive system had to be removed as well, so I probably won't be able to have any children."

Ash sighed angrily. "I just can't believe you didn't tell me this sooner. Why wait until now to say something?"

"Ash, your mother had just died from ovarian cancer, do you really think I would want to tell you that I might have the same? I didn't want to put you through that much suffering," I said.

There was another moment of silence. Ash placed his head down, looking as if he was about to cry. I placed my arm around him, bringing his head to my shoulder. I saw him shut his eyes really tight and I ran my fingers through his hair.

I smiled slightly as he breathed heavily. "I'm fine," I assured him. "I'm completely fine. Besides I thought of adopting, but the only guy I actually suggested it to dumped me because he wanted a child that was rightfully his. I know it sounds selfish, but for some reason I guessed you might think the same way. I'm sorry."

Ash looked at me, tears threatening to fall from his soft brown eyes. "You think I really care about that? Men who think that way are nothing but shallow assholes! I love you too much to ever leave you for such a stupid reason."

I felt my heart skip a beat. "Wait, what?"

I felt Ash flinch a little, and then he sat up quickly, shyly looking away from me. "Well I mean," he started, "I mean I love you like uhm, like a fish loves water! Or maybe like ice cubes love a good soda? Or something like that...I guess...you know?"

I smiled slightly, hiding a small laugh behind my hand. "I know what you mean, Ash. I love you too."

My heart began to beat faster as he looked at me and smiled. We've been together for so long, I guess eventually being together would be like second nature, but I didn't think about actually being together as a real couple. Well I guess that's a bit of lie. When I was younger I did have a huge secret crush on him, this I'm not afraid to admit, but when Ash came to live with me it was more like a best friend situation, or like a sister helping a brother. But maybe I've always had feelings for him, just hidden behind our own sadness. Ah well, as the saying goes: misery loves company.

I leaned back against the wall, and Ash did too. We both sighed deeply at the same time, and noticing our acts, we looked at each other and smiled. He has such a cute smile, but I couldn't think about that right now. After all, we were still trapped in this place. I leaned forward, sliding my hands through my reddish brown hair.

"Ahhh, this is so aggravating!" I nearly screamed out. "I want out now!"

"Don't worry, Mist, I have faith in my pokemon! They'll be here any minute now just watch!" Ash stated exuberantly, pumping a fist in the air.

"Oh please, I can't believe I wasted my time blowing dust out of a window! I should have just kicked my way out to begin with!" I stood up, walking fiercely over to our caged door. I clenched my fists by my side. "I bet if I kick it hard enough, I could create a wedge for us to crawl out of.

Ash stood up and ran next to me. "Misty don't, I don't think you have enough power to kick down a metal barred door," he said.

"Oh really?" I retaliated. "Then just watch me!" I lifted my foot up, swung it backwards and pushed it forward with all my might. Just at the moment when I could hear my foot colliding with the door, there was a loud explosion from right behind us.

Shocked, Ash and I turned around to see dust flying everywhere and rocks flying through the air. Ash tried to shield me by pulling my body close to his and ducking us down, almost to the ground. We closed our eyes to shield us from the smoke, but when we opened them we got a shocking but pleasant surprise. There, amidst the fallen debris, was Pikachu and Venusaur, staring at us and seeming relieved that we were okay.

"I-I don't believe it…" I murmured.

Ash smiled confidently, placing his hands on his hips. He looked to me and smiled knowingly, sticking his tongue out at me.

"And now," he said, "Now you can never doubt me again."

He ran over to his pokemon, giving them gentle pats on the head. "I'm so glad you're both here, I just knew you would find us!"

I rolled my eyes as I heard their cries of joy, sliding my foot along the ground a little. As much as I enjoyed trying to kick that door down, I won't admit how much my foot hurts like hell right now. I guess it could fit in the top ten things to regret doing.

I smiled, but it instantly fell once I heard yelling from the hallway. I turned to the door and then turned back to Ash.

"Ash, I think we have a small situation here!"

Ash turned back to me, with another large confident smile, "Don't worry, that's why the dream team is here! Pikachu, Venusaur, are you ready?"

Both pokemon nodded, Venusaur shaking his leaves a little, and Pikachu letting loose some sparks from his cheeks.

Ash nodded, then pointed to the door. "Go for it you guys!"

The next thing I knew, Pikachu's electricity collided with the leaves of Venusaur, crashing through the gated door and nearly coming down on three guards who entered our private dungeon. I ducked and dodged out of the way just in time, but just as a turned around to yell at Ash for being so careless he grabbed me by the arm and pulled me along with him.

"Let's go! Pikachu! Venusaur!" Ash yelled. We ran out the door and down the hallway, Pikachu jumping on Ash's shoulder and Venusaur waddling along behind us.

"Ash where are we going?" I asked, trying to keep up with his sudden burst of energy.

"I don't really know but I figure this place is so small, she has to be here somewhere right?" Ash answered.

Turns out he was right, I couldn't argue as we turned one corner, and then another, finally running into a group of guards who were blocking a large metal door. Ash rushed forward, despite my efforts to pull him back, and commanded Pikachu to use Thundershock on all the guards without much thought. The guards fell backwards and ran away, giving us opportunity to head straight in.

I would have told Ash to wait while we think up of a strategy, but to be honest after spending a few hours in a cramped cell only to be nearly beheaded by a flying rock thrown at me by a Venusaur, I was a bit tired of waiting myself.

"Pikachu, iron tail!" Ash commanded.

Pikachu jumped up once again off of Ash's shoulder, his tail sparkling bright as he shouted his name. Pikachu jumped high and came down swift and hard, his pointed tail practically sawing the door in half, causing it to come crashing to the ground.

We ran in to realize that the room was actually a huge laboratory. There were machines and wires everywhere we could lay our eyes on, but we couldn't help but notice the huge contraption in the middle of the room, a large glass case with a tiny girl wrapped inside.

"Snowflake!" We yelled, both running closer to her. We stopped however, when we noticed there was someone standing by the glass cage, with short black hair and a white coat.

"Shit, it's him! The one who captured us, and the one who came over to our house the other day," Ash said.

I breathed in heavily and clenched my fists. This was not going to end well. The man turned around slowly, and I could see a wide smile on his face.

"Well now," he began to say, "It looks just you're just in time for the finale."


	8. Chapter 8: Day 7--On a Clear Day

Chapter 8: Day 7-On a Clear Day…

**Misty's POV**

I could see Snow's eyes open, slowly and gently, and her body began to sway. Although it was being held up by metal chains connected to her wrists and ankles, her body still looked like it was unstable, as if it wasn't for the chains she would fall over in an instant. It was like seeing her battered and beaten and nearly defeated, nearly tore my heart in half, I could barely stand it. I tried to reach out for her, but Ash held my arm, hard and fast, and pulled me back, shaking his head slightly.

I sighed for what seemed like the twentieth time that night, looking up at the shiny glass case containing my beloved little girl, or at least someone who I saw as my little girl, and being unable to do anything about her suffering.

"You son of a bitch," I heard Ash growl from beside me, "Let her go!"

"How appropriate that you all should show," the guy in the lab coat said, "You see we have been having troubles drawing out Jirachi's true power, but with you both here, maybe you could help us out a bit."

I stepped forward a little, feeling my eyes blaze from tiredness. "And why on earth would we ever help you?" I asked.

The black haired man only shook his head. "You don't understand do you? This world is in such shambles, and Jirachi has the power to save us all! We could change so many things, and find so many things that would benefit us, like how to grow more efficient crops or find cures for common diseases. Jirachi could help us but all we need is her power. Don't you want to save your world? Or better yet, what about your city? It's on the brink of disaster right? Wouldn't you want to save your town from poverty? Jirachi can do so much for you but all you have to do is tap into it."

Throughout this whole speech his waved his arms wildly, almost feverishly, I couldn't help but get distracted by his windmill-like motions. It seemed so crazy, like he was trying to keep his body in balance by waving his arms to prevent himself from falling over like a ton of bricks.

I rolled my eyes, placing my hands on my hips and tapping my left foot. I wanted to curse the fool out, however knowing that Snowflake could probably hear my every word I decided against it. Ash looked to me a bit worried, I guess he was afraid that I would blow my top, knowing how sensitive I get about my hometown.

I sighed in frustration, trying to keep my cool. "If you think for one second that I would use Jirachi that way you're dead wrong! I know about Jirachi's power, but I never once thought of using it for such a selfish act. Whatever has happened to my city, I can't change that, but all I can do is live my life the best I can and just get over it. In the end, my actions won't change the entire economy."

"But that's precisely what I mean!" The lab rat stated. "You can! With Jirachi's power you can do anything you wish! Would you like a demonstration?" He began to smile again, almost in frustration, and turned his back to us, pressing a few buttons on his keypad that was attached to a small screen in front of him. Ash and I looked at each other curiously, then we heard a snapping noise from above, and a large missile-like structure peered down at us, aiming directly at us with a red blinking light.

I began to get a bit fearful, and grabbed Ash's arm, while he in turn backed us up a bit, a few steps back so we were right next to Pikachu and Venusaur.

The man in white smiled at us. "Maybe I should give you a taste of Jirachi's true power! This electromagnetic beam will shoot almost 50% of Jirachi's energy straight at you! Then you won't be able to deny what I say!" He began to yell, seemingly confident, but I guess anyone would be having a powerful legendary on their side.

I could hear Jirachi struggling against her restraints, with newfound vigor and determination. I could hear her scream, her voice ranging out clear as a bell.

"Mommy! Daddy! No don't hurt them! Please! Let them go!"

I could feel my heart skip a beat as I looked to Ash. "Did she just call us...her parents?" I whispered.

Ash, wide-eyed and open mouthed, could only utter a faint reply. "I-I think so," he stuttered, clearly in shock.

I looked from Ash, to the man in front of us, and to Jirachi, gripping Ash's arm tighter.

"There's no point in doing this," I stated. "All you're doing is wasting your energy."

The man only growled a little, feeling a bit uncomfortable, I could see him fidgeting. His eyes became red like a wildfire, his teeth were grinding together like stacks of pancakes, and it was clearly obvious that this guy was losing it. He roughed up his hair using his hands, bending his head down a bit to do so, and then he turned around and nearly screamed at the glass case.

"Can't you see what you're doing to them?! They still think that you are a human with emotions! You're nothing but a tool you hear me? A tool for destruction! And yet you fool these idiots into thinking that you mean something! Why? Why won't you transform back? Turn back!" He yelled, hitting the glass with his fists, causing it to shake.

I shook my head and turned to Ash, "What is wrong with this guy?"

Ash said nothing, but narrowed his eyes a bit, as if trying to suppress a headache. He sighed heavily, running his fingers through his jet black hair. I turned back to the cage, still staring at the guy banging helplessly on it, watching Snow's eyes flicker with sadness and fear. Even after all this time, she still felt like Snowflake to me, especially since she was still in her human form.

"Now it all makes sense," I heard Ash reply.

I turned to look at him and even the crazy lab rat stopped his rampage to listen to Ash.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"The only reason why this guy is trying so hard, I can't believe I didn't realize it sooner. You didn't get your wish did you?" Ash replied, a smile beginning to form on his lips.

"What?!" the man snarled.

"Jirachi is the type of pokemon that only grants wishes to those that are deemed worthy. But you, I bet you were seen as being unworthy, and that's why Jirachi tried so hard to run away from you. So tell me then, since saving the world isn't your real goal, then what is your real wish?" Ash said.

I looked at Ash and saw the wheels of thought turning in his eyes, a bright confident smile that became even brighter with each word he spoke. I then looked to the man in front of us, who had the opposite expression. He said nothing, but his eyes seemed to speak over a 1000 words, and he gritted his teeth, clenching his fists as if he could beat us silly.

Then from the shiny glass, a voice ranged out, filled with anger and resentment.

"He...he was looking for Mewtwo!" Jirachi shouted.

"Mewtwo?" Ash and I repeated.

Suddenly a flash of memory streaked across Ash's face. "Oh yeah! You remember Mewtwo, dontcha Misty? The artificial creation, the carbon copy made from the DNA of Mew. So that means...you're a part of Team Rocket?!" He pointed his finger at the lab coat man, as if discovering a small hidden piece of gold in a pile of trash.

"What I am or what I'm not shouldn't matter to you," the man replied. "All that matters is that now you have met your end!"

Suddenly we turned around to see a horde of people surrounding us, all dressed in black and white, broadcasting the same bright red R that was imprinted on their shirts.

"Team Rocket!" Ash yelled out.

"So you are a part of Team Rocket!" I shouted. "You piece of crap, you were leading us on to buy time for your calvary to arrive!"

"Maybe so," the man begin to smile, "But none of that matters now, as long as I don't see you again!"

The rocket members began to sneer and snicker, gradually getting closer to us. Ash suddenly pulled me behind him, and gathered Pikachu and Venusaur by his side.

"Are you ready, Pikachu? Venusaur?" He said to them.

Pikachu and Venusaur both nodded in understanding, while I began to brace myself for what would happen next. Right as Pikachu's cheeks began to spark however, I could hear a loud explosion from my right. Ash and I turned around to see the cage glisten in white and then finally explode into a million pieces of glass that showered from above us. In the panic Ash dragged me to the side, Pikachu and Venusaur still protecting us, but the cowardly Team Rocket members ran to different sides of the room for cover.

Out of the bright light came Snowflake, now in her Jirachi form, and glowing a bright yellow. The only thing that could be seen was her bright blue eyes, now showing rare signs of anger, as she swung her left arm in front of her like a sweeping motion. This casual act nearly broke the room in half, creating a pillar of fire that separated the men in front of us. All of them began to scream in fear, tripping over each other, falling over and backing up in caution of what would happen next. Jirachi had no fear, however, as she hovered above us, her eyes glowing a bright pink as she lifted her arms in the air.

The people who were running towards her began to get lifted and tossed aside like rag dolls, and their pokeballs that they were about to toss out fell to the floor. At this moment the mad lab rat scientist, who was in shock the whole time, ran up to Jirachi waving his arms in the air.

"Stop this Jirachi!" He said. "I won't hesitate to destroy you! Your power belongs to me!"

"That's what you think!" Ash yelled out. "Venusaur use Vine Whip!"

Venusaur's vines flew out from his body, wrapping around the guy in the white coat and restraining him down. He struggled helplessly, looking in fear seeing Jirachi above him.

"No let me go!" He yelled, "She's going to kill me!"

"Maybe you deserve it," Ash replied, "After all you did to Jirachi, I dare say you deserve it, wouldn't you Misty?"

I flinched a bit as he turned to look at me, not expecting the sudden attention. All I could do was nod slightly.

"You can't be serious!" He yelled back. "I don't want to die!"

"How do you think Jirachi feels?!" I spoke up. "Surely she doesn't want to die to the likes of you either!"

"That isn't very fair, wouldn't you say so, Jirachi?" Ash looked to her, a smug smirk on his face.

Jirachi only nodded, her hands beginning to glow a dark pink, as if powering up an attack. I couldn't help but get a bit fearful, not really fearing for the lab rat's safety, but for ours in case we got hit by something. But Ash did something unexpected, he turned to me and winked, his smile growing larger. It was then I understood, Ash had no intention of attacking.

"No please!" He screamed, "Let me go!"

"You didn't let us go," Ash said, "Why should we let you go?"

"Please, I won't do it again, please!" The cowering man yelled back. He had his knees on the floor and his tried to move his tied up arms trying to in failure to cover his head.

"What do you think, Snow? Should we let the man go?" I heard Ash ask next, while placing his hands on his hips.

Snowflake let her arms slowly fall by her side, her eyes returning back to their original color, and her body having less of an impactful yellow aura. She nodded slightly, her lips forming a slight little smile.

Ash nodded, calling Venusaur to release his vines on the man, who seemed pleased and scared looking back and forth between Jirachi and Ash. Finally without saying much of anything, he stood up and ran off, hopping over the large cracks in the ground and avoiding the puddles of fire causing the ground to become smoldering patches of asphalt.

I sighed heavily, letting go a breath I didn't realize I had been holding. I could hear Pikachu and Venusaur also breath happily, especially after seeing the rest of the Team Rocket members scurrying along away from us. After seeing that Ash turned to me and smiled happily.

"See? And you had the nerve to doubt me," he replied.

It was then that I looked behind him, seeing Jirachi fall slowly to the ground, her eyes getting heavier and heavier. Her body glowed a faint white, it seemed as if she used the last of her energy protecting us, and her eyes closed as her body was close to hitting the floor below.

"Ash, behind you!" I said.

Ash turned around in a hurry, he began to gasp and run quickly towards the falling pokemon, catching her safely in his arms. I ran up next to him, watching Ash cradle Jirachi as if he would a tiny human baby.

I bowed down next to him, worry evident in my face. "Is she alright?" I asked in a hush.

Ash looked so intensely at her, and stood up slowly, still holding on to her. He turned to me and nodded, his eyes once again filled with determination as he ran over to the wall.

"We got to hurry and get out of here," he said. "Pikachu, Venusaur, tear down this wall! We'll go straight through!"

With a combined attack, Pikachu used his Thunderbolt, and Venusaur used Frenzy Plant to tear down the wall into pieces, watching it crumble and fall almost like fallen snow from the sky. Once we hopped over all the debris we saw nothing but trees and sky, the sun coming over the horizon line brightly.

It was then my mind kicked into high gear. "Ash, it's the seventh day!"

Ash nodded in understanding. "Right, we gotta get Jirachi to the mountains quick otherwise she's done for!"

As soon as we could take a step however, we could hear voices and footsteps coming up from behind us, and once again I could feel my mind becoming clouded with dread and fear. I slowly turned around to see a gang of pokemon disturbers all dressed in their black and white, with the same cowardly leader in front of them.

"You piece of crap," Ash muttered, his nostrils flaring, "Why won't you all just leave us alone?"

"We're not going anywhere until you give us that Jirachi! You wont stop us from reaching our goal," the man said, still wearing his flowing white lab coat.

"That's too bad," Ash said. "Because you won't stop us from reaching ours."

He turned to me and smiled and I couldn't help but smile back, instantly knowing our next move.

"Pikachu, thunderbolt!" I yelled.

"Venusaur, solar beam!" Ash yelled from beside me.

I was a bit shocked by this risk taking move but then I realized exactly why Ash chose that move. He had set his hopes on Pikachu rising into the air and charging his electricity, for little did the Rockets know that Pikachu himself was a little solar flare, gaining energy from the sun shining directly on his back. It was this intensity of light, along with the power of the rising sun, that allowed Venusaur to power up his Solar Beam faster and the collaboration of this power was able to merge together perfectly. It created a beam of light that pushed back all the negative power of the Rockets, spiraling them backward and pushing them far away into the air, dawning them to the sky above.

Amidst all the screaming I could hear the main Rocket's cries, "This isn't over!" But even his voice waned in the distance, fading into nothing but silence.

It was an eerie silence, and Ash and I began to look around, almost as if we were expecting something else to come out from the trees, and then Ash looked to me breathing another sigh of relief. I smiled, then congratulated Pikachu and Venusaur, who never ceased to amaze me in their way of protecting us.

Then Ash spoke to me, "C'mon let's go, before anyone else shows up."

I smiled a bit, then we took off together, breaking into a run.

* * *

Before the sun could reach much higher in the sky, Ash and I, along with Pikachu and Venusaur, finally made it to Mt. Moon. Ash was still carrying Jirachi, who seemed to finally wake up a bit as if she sensed we were reaching the bottom of the mountain.

"What do you think?" I asked, "Should we climb up higher?"

"I think we should try," Ash said, stifling a bit of a yawn. "The higher we go the safer she should be right?"

"That's quite alright...I should be fine the rest of the way on my own…" A voice called out to us.

I looked down at Jirachi, seeing it was still a Jirachi, and then looked to Ash and the other pokemon.

"Did you hear that or am I going crazy?" I asked.

Ash nodded. "That voice sounded a lot like-"

"It's alright Ash," she said. "You can let go of me now."

I could see Ash's whole body flinch as he let go of the tiny lump that was Snowflake. Jirachi's body lifted into the air, glowing a yellow as bright as the sun as she turned around to face us. As the light faded, we could see her body a bit more clearly, and her blue eyes as shiny and clear as the fresh ocean water. It also seemed as if her surge in power healed all her wounds, I surmised it could have been even more powerful than that infamous mega evolution I heard so much about.

Her blue and yellow tassels seem to have gotten longer as well, and her hidden eye on the center of her body finally opening, another sparkling pearl of blue showing my reflection.

"Jirachi..?" I whispered.

She began to smile brightly, "It seems as if our journey is finally over," she began.

My mind began to scream: No! It can't end yet! But deep in my heart I knew it was already over, I just wasn't ready to admit it yet.

"Is this...really the end?" Ash asked, as if reciprocating my thoughts.

Jirachi nodded. "I am afraid so, but it has been a great week hasn't it?" She said, beginning to laugh a little. "If it wasn't for my connection to the both of you my powers wouldn't have adapted this much, especially to the point where I could telepathically communicate with you."

_So this is how Jirachi is speaking to us_, I thought, too astounded to make a comment.

"It's just, I kinda enjoyed having you around," Ash said, "You certainly made this an adventure I wouldn't forget any time soon."

Pikachu and Venusaur both nodded, agreeing with their trainer.

"Jirachi.." I said softly, "As much as I don't want you to go, I know you have to. I only hope that in the next 1000 or so years, you would remember us?"

"Of course mother Misty," Jirachi giggled. "I would never forget you or papa Ash."

I suppressed a laugh myself at that moment, never thinking that I would ever hear the words 'papa Ash' from anyone.

Ash rolled his eyes, placing his hands on his hips. "Well just promise us you will take care of yourself okay? And try not to fall for any more men in lab coats."

"I won't, promise," Jirachi said.

I felt as if I was about to cry, silently cursing myself for not thinking of a single thing to say. Damn, I bet this is how parents feel when their children leave home for the first time, wanting to remind their children of what to do and what not to do, the feeling of complete helplessness, hoping and praying for the best every day. I could feel Jirachi looking at me, her eyes glowing brightly, and she floated closer to me as if she wanted to hug me. She closed her eyes and sighed deeply, and before I knew it she instantly transformed back into a human. Except this time she wasn't such a little girl, but a near adult, a seemingly innocent adolescent, her purity shining in a golden aura all around her.

"Snowflake?!" I heard Ash say.

We were both clearly surprised, but I couldn't even mumble a word as she crept closer to me, and pressed her finger on my forehead. We were all silent, but I could feel something slowly creep along my body. From my head to my toes I could feel this tingling sensation that I couldn't turn away from, almost stunning me to the point where all I could do was close my eyes. I heard Ash whisper my name, but then that was it, and all that was left was Snowflake and me.

As if she was pushing away all of the world except for me...

My eyes snapped open at this thought, as if it was the most prevailing thought I ever had in my life. Snowflake nodded and smiled, as if realizing some sad, dark truth.

"I see, so that's how it is," she said. "You and Ash were both affected by the death of your mothers. Now I know it was more than just coincidence that you both should meet wasn't it?"

I was still too stunned to move, but I miraculously found my voice. "But...how?"

Snowflake walked over towards Ash and touched his forehead in the same manner in which she touched mine. I saw his body stiffen, and his eyes widen a bit before closing entirely. Then in a manner of seconds, it was over and Snow stepped back.

She smiled at him. "You are still plagued by the death of your mother," she said, almost bluntly. "As much as I hate to say it this way, you have to let it go, otherwise your mother will never have peace in the afterlife."

"Wha-what do you mean?" Ash stuttered out.

"I know how much your mother meant to you," Snowflake continued, "But if you allow her memory to prevent you from moving on then you will suffer even more than she did."

Ash couldn't say anything but held his head down in silence. Snowflake corrected his actions, lifting his chin up slightly.

"Don't do that either," she said. "It's always darkest before the dawn."

She then turned to look at me, still being as silent as ever. "Misty," she said, pointing at me, "You must become a better influence on Ash."

Then she turned back around and pointed at Ash, "And you must also be a good influence for Misty. You both must remember that throughout your struggles, you both have become a shining example of what it takes to live on. Now all you both have to do is take that final step. Do not be discouraged! Remember that it is your connection to each other that brings you both through your darkest trials. From this moment on...I want you both to be reborn anew."

It was at this she transformed back into a Jirachi, her golden aura still present upon her body.

"This is my wish for you…" I could hear her say.

I looked down at my body to see it glowing with the same yellow aura that Jirachi had, and Ash also had this same aura about him, as Pikachu and Venusaur looked at us both curiously. I didn't know what was happening to Ash, but when I thought my body would feel pain, there was this calming, peaceful sensation passing through me, as if nothing could ever hurt me again. Of course I knew this wasn't true but I at the moment I wanted to believe it, almost like I had to believe it. I looked to Ash's golden body, his soft smile looking quite peaceful on his lips, his brown eyes staring down at his hands as if he was afraid that they would disappear if he didn't look at them.

I heard Pikachu's voice and then looked to see him pointing at the sky. I turned to see Jirachi seemingly like she was floating higher away. It was then that my body sort of kicked into high gear, almost moving involuntarily forward and I lifted my arm into the sky, hoping to catch a hand or a tassle or something that would prevent her from leaving me.

"P-Please don't leave me!" I shouted. "What shall I do without you, you are the only daughter I could ever come close to having! Please stay with me!"

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Ash come up next to me and place his hand on my shoulder. I began to sob, uncontrollably I might add, seeing Jirachi as nothing more but a blurred object in my vision. I closed my eyes and buried my head into Ash's left shoulder, gripping his right and feeling my wet tears fall on his shirt. I'm not sure if it was the fact that I had no sleep or whatever Jirachi did to me that made me glow like an orange, but I haven't felt so out of sorts since Togepi left me. Togepi...I still haven't even called her by her evolved name…

I could feel Ash rub my back with his hands, pulling me as close as he ever could, nearly devouring me with his arms. I could feel his breath hitch and get heavy, and his tears beginning to fall like rain on the top of my head. I wondered if this was how parents felt when their children leave them…

"Don't cry mother Misty," I could hear Jirachi say, "Ash is with you now, and as long as you have each other, you will be fine."

"Jirachi…" I heard Ash say, his saddened voice resonating through my body. "Snowflake...thank you..for everything. You will always be in our hearts, but I'm sure you already knew that right? I hope we get to meet each other again, one day."

I looked up to see Jirachi's body getting brighter, her feet turning into shards of crystal. She nodded slightly, still smiling gracefully, as her body slowly became brighter and shinier. Right before our eyes, she was fading, becoming completely shrouded in a crystallized lattice that formed over her entire body.

And then...she disappeared. Her body rising to the top of Mt. Moon and becoming a speck somewhere in the steep landform.

"Is..is it over?" I murmured.

I could feel Ash's head nod, his body still pressed close to mine. "Yeah," he breathed, "She's truly safe now."

I began to cry again, but this time it was tears of happiness, as I wrapped my arms around Ash's back. I could feel Ash kissing the top of my head and it seemed like our bodies swayed along with the movement of the tree branches swaying from the wind. Finally after what seemed like forever, Ash slowly pulled away from me, I believe it was hearing Pikachu's voice that broke him from his inner trance.

"Are you okay?" He asked me. I could see the tears still falling from his face, but slowly now almost as if they wanted to linger on his cheeks a bit longer.

I nodded, beginning to smile a little. "Yeah, I'll be okay."

Then Ash did something unexpected. He kissed me. I wasn't sure if it was out of instinct or love or partial pity, but I couldn't help but accept it. I could feel his tongue dance along with mine, but before I could get off into it, he pulled away and placed his forehead on mine. He smiled at me, and it became infectious, causing me to smile too.

"Ah?!" I said with a shock. Pikachu ran up all of a sudden and jumped on my shoulder as if to express his happiness towards me. I laughed and scratched his fur, and then knelt down to pet Venusaur who had waddled over and nudged my leg. I stood back up to look at Ash, who was looking towards the sky, a bit of a blush evident on his tear stained cheeks.

"You know," he began to say, "I wonder if my mom felt the same way when I left home."

"Most likely," I replied.

Ash then turned to me and smiled, grabbing my hand. "C'mon let's go home."

"Uh, Ash did you forget we don't have a home anymore? We got kicked out remember?" Then a flash of remembrance hit me like a ton of bricks. "Oh shit my bike! What about our stuff? Oh no what about the money I had?"

"Calm yourself little one," Ash teased. "I told Pikachu and Venusaur if anything happened to us then they would take care of everything. As for your bike however, I'm afraid it got torn to bits by that Weather Ball attack. But hey you could always buy another one right?"

"You mean _you_ could buy me another one," I said, folding my arms and rolling my eyes.

"Oi, don't you dare start up with that again!" Ash said, stomping off.

I walked up to him, being partially serious, "You always get me into your adventures, Ash Ketchup! You owe me something for my trouble."

"Oh really?" He turned to me and smiled, before kissing me again.

I was caught off guard by this, as my knees nearly buckled by the power of his force. I finally snapped out of it and pulled away.

"Hey! I want more than that!" I said.

"Gosh, getting a bit kinky are we? Well if you just want to…" Ash replied, winking at me with that crooked smile of his.

"Oh just forget it!" It was my turn to stomp off, hearing him laugh behind me and his rushed footsteps to catch up with me, Pikachu and Venusaur trailing behind us. I thought for sure I could almost hear them snickering at me.

* * *

Two days later…

"It's been a long time hasn't it?" I whispered.

"Yeah," murmured Ash beside me.

It had indeed been a long time, since Ash and I went to the gravesite of Ash's mother. We had ridden on our bikes, Ash on his old one and me on my new one, and made the day and a half trip to a small cemetery where Ash's mother currently lay. I was surprised that the site still looked at clean as it was when it first happened, and fresh flowers were already placed near her tombstone, although Ash had just placed his next to them. Pikachu stood on his shoulder, as if trying to read his emotions, while Venusaur stood next to me, in his same quiet disposition.

"I just thought I should see her...at least one more time," Ash said.

I nodded. "Of course," I said. I wanted to say more, but I just couldn't think of the words. Ash had been in deep thought for a while now, but all of a sudden he just said that he wanted to see his mother. I didn't object, nor show my pride of him as we climbed the steep hill and traveled the distance to his his mother, who still rested peacefully in her Pallet grave. I could do nothing but hold his hand, and watched him as he seemed to sort through so many thoughts in his head.

Then he turned around, almost abruptly, but then kneeled down and turned back around to touch the tombstone. He smiled softly, his lips nearly quivering.

"Goodbye, mom," he said.

He then stood back up and walked over to Venusaur, his bright brown eyes shining with glee.

"Venusaur," he called, reaching in his pocket. "I have a surprise for you."

The large bulb plant perked up, looking a bit surprised and excited. He pulled out of his pocket, a shiny red and white ball, which he was able to enlarge using the button in the middle. Venusaur cheered his name happily, as Ash tossed the ball forward causing Venusaur to be absorbed in the red light. It only shook once before it sparkled, and a loud ping sound could be heard. Ash smile grew even brighter as he picked up the ball and placed it on a belt buckle on his pants.

"Ash, what did you do?" I asked curiously.

"Well, of course you're going to need a team if you plan on becoming a pokemon trainer, right?" He smiled looking at me.

"Wait you mean?" I said, a bit stunned by what exactly he was implying.

Ash nodded and began to rub Pikachu's fur, as Pikachu cried out joyfully. Ash laughed and then held out his hand.

"So, would you like to come along?" He said, winking at me.

I grabbed his hand eagerly, as if I was afraid he would run away if I didn't. "Dummy, as if you needed to ask."


	9. Epilogue: Sever the Seven (Years Ago)

Epilogue: Sever the Seven (Years Ago)

**Misty's POV**

I remember that summer very clearly. It seemed that year was the peak of everything, but little did I know it would be a turning point that would lead to nothing but the fading away of a flickering light.

Things were looking well at my gym, for after we finally finished the remodel I got compliment after compliment from trainers about how well it looked. Of course I didn't take into account the money, or the time, to make a swimming pool larger and add a few fountains to it. I was just so into the dream at the time. Finally, I could come into my own as a pokemon trainer. Now that the league was over I could also get some practice done, but first I had a small dinner celebration to go to.

Ash's mother had fixed this lavish dinner, in celebration of Ash becoming champion, and had invited Brock and I in good faith, since we haven't seen each other in so long. How long has it been really, maybe two or three years? In reality it had only been two, but it seemed like time went so quickly back then.

And so went the dinner: I wore a long red Chinese-like dress and small pearl-like earrings, my hair in its usual ponytail. Brock wore a black shirt with brown suit pants and Ash wore a black t-shirt with a black pair of jeans-leave it to Ash to be causal. We were sitting at the kitchen room table, eating and talking just like old times.

"So Ash, I must say, after all this time and you finally beat Lance, congratulations to you! I have to say..I'm very proud of you," I said.

"Wow you're actually proud of me, Misty? Never expected to hear that," Ash replied.

"What can I say I'm full of surprises," I said, taking a sip of my tea.

"Well we have a lot to celebrate tonight guys," Brock said. "Not only do we have Ash being the new champion of Kanto, but also Misty is doing well with her gym, and I'm in the top of my class in breeding school. We've all certainly come into our own haven't we?"

"Speaking of breeding school I thought you were going to be a pokemon doctor like Nurse Joy," Ash remarked.

"Well who says I can't do both? And besides breeding pokemon is just as fun as I imagined it to be, with it's few perks," Brock replied.

"Perks? You mean pretty girls?" I said, a smug smirk on my face.

"Girls?" Ash repeated. "So you met someone?"

"Well I did happen to run into this cute breeder who loves Rock types," Brock said, with this derpy love crazy look on his face.

"Oohhh is she your study buddy? Did you seal your deal with a kiss?" I said giggling.

Brock acted like he was going to pour water on me but I rose up quickly, watching him roll his eyes and smile. And so we talked like that for a while, just us laughing and talking, just like our old campfire nights.

* * *

A few days later, I was getting ready for the Pokemon League conference that would take place in a week, so in order to prepare for the trip I had to buy supplies. Which meant another boring day of shopping. Unfortunately back in those days I was still underage, and wasn't really allowed to travel to the conference without a guardian, which meant bringing my sisters along. They disliked the trip as much as I did, but such was the life of a gym leader, and at least I would have a chance to see Ash and Brock again.

Well while coming home with groceries in my arms I saw a man talking with Daisy outside the gym. I wanted to assume that this guy was her boyfriend, but since he seemed a bit old for her I decided against it. He had messy grey hair and a long face, wearing a dark blue suit that seemed to show as much wear and tear as his face did. Just looking at him made me tired enough.

I walked up to Daisy, interrupting their conversation, "Hey sis, a little help here?" I asked.

"Oh yeah sure," she said, opening up the door wide and then folding her arms, as if in an effort to get back to her conversation.

"Really?!" I exclaimed.

"C'mon, Misty, I just got my nails done. Do you really want me to go back and get them done all over again?" She said.

I huffed and rolled my eyes. "You just can't find good help these days I swear," I said as I walked in.

As soon as Daisy walked in I of course confronted her about what just happened. She looked to me a bit puzzled, faking her ignorance like a dense Slowpoke.

"What you mean? Oh that guy? That was, uhm, well my boyfriend! I wanted to keep it a secret but since you caught me.." she started and then trailed off, as if not wanting to explain much more.

"Your boyfriend? He's old enough to be your dad! Why would you even want to be with a guy like that?" I asked.

"Oh Misty, you're far too young to truly understand why people do the things they do, but would it really matter as long as he takes care of me? But uhm, do me a favor and not mention it to the girls alright? I want to keep this a secret," she replied, a shy look gracing her face as she looked down a bit, swaying from side to side as she attempted to avoid eye contact with me.

I lifted up an eyebrow, not even for one second falling for her insane antics. But if the mystery man at the door wasn't really her boyfriend, then why waste her time defending him?

Before I had much time to wonder, however, the days passed quickly and before I knew it, fall was already approaching. But just as I was approaching a long awaited three week break, I had received an unexpected phone call. One that would unfortunately change everything.

"Misty, Brock is on the phone!" I could hear Daisy yell.

Once I got to the phone I could see Brock's face, solemn but with a soft smile, as if he was glad to see me.

"Brock I thought we were going to meet up for the Gym Leader conference in a couple of weeks, but hey what's up?" I said, being jovial as always.

"Misty…" Brock began, but then trailed off, casting his eyes down and slumping his shoulders.

"What is it?" I said, becoming troubled, "Is there something wrong?"

"Well, uhm," Brock began to talk slowly, almost in a whisper, and I could see his lower lip quivering. "This morning, Ash found his mom collapsed on the kitchen floor and had to take her to the hospital."

"Oh my God," I gasped, "Is she okay?"

"Well…" He continued, "I'm sorry, Misty, she just died a few moments ago."

It felt like at that moment I could feel my heart stop. "Wa-What?!"

"I didn't want to call until I was sure," Brock replied. "Ash is taking it really hard obviously. I was hoping maybe some time you could come over, and we could discuss the arrangements."

* * *

The next couple of weeks seemed to go by really slowly. Brock and I planned the funeral, and it was paid for by Professor Oak himself. I never realized how much a life could mean until it was gone. Not only was Ash's mom a devoting wife and mother, but she was admired by the entire community after Ash's father was killed in a car accident. Being a single mother to a six month year old boy was hard, but taking care of children around the town was probably a lot harder. Nevertheless, Delia Ketchum took care of everyone, running errands, cooking food, washing clothes all before dinnertime, not to mention keeping up with her garden and even taking care of some of the Professor's baby pokemon-in her spare time of course. Yes, she wasn't just Ash's mother, but everyone's mother, even helping to save a few marriages whenever a disgruntled wife would ask for advice. Her strength was most likely the reason why she didn't let anyone know of her suffering. She was never one to complain, and she probably saw her cancer as another goal for her to conquer. But in her efforts not to make anyone worry, she didn't realize that her cancer had already spread throughout her body, and her chances of living a full lasting life died when she fell to her knees on her kitchen floor.

And so went the life of Delia Ketchum, just like a leaf floating through the wind, it passed quickly and touched the lives of everyone who came in contact with it.

Then again, she was never the type to dwell on something for too long.

Ash, however, wasn't blessed with that same perk. A few weeks later Brock called me again, to let me know of Ash's progress.

"It's not going so well," Brock started. "We've been trying but Ash has just been getting worse and worse, and has been spending long days and nights in his room. I've been wanting to help him, but he pushes everyone else away. I think the only one who could help would be you, Misty. I've been here as long as I could, but I have other matters to attend to, unfortunately. If you could, please help him, I believe he needs you."

I began to wonder, why me? Brock seemed a lot more experienced in taking care of a brother than I was, so why summon me? Then it began to dawn on me, the loss of my parents was almost the same as the loss of Ash's mother. Even though my father left us a bit after I was born and my mother died at an age when I was too young to appreciate it, I had assumed that maybe there might be some sort of inner connection that would help Ash and not hinder. So I made the trip to Pallet Town, despite the growing tension at that moment between my sisters and I.

Unfortunately when I knocked on the door of Ash's house I had gotten no answer, but just as I turned around to leave I heard a small sound from the window. I turned around to see Pikachu, frantically tapping away in efforts to gain my attention. So after some thought I went around to the back door, which was surprisingly unlocked, and made my way inside. As I stepped foot in the kitchen I realized for the most part it was clean, except for a small note attached to the refrigerator.

_Misty, if you see this note it means I have already left, but I'll be back soon. Please do what you can for Ash and when I come back I'll have some dinner ready. I'm counting on you. Brock._

After this I looked from the note to Pikachu at my feet. Talk about pressure. I took a deep breath and sighed heavily. Well Misty, now or never. I made my way up the steps and knocked on Ash's door. Of course I got no response so I knocked again.

"Go away." Was a stern voice from inside that could only belong to Ash.

"Ash, I'm not leaving until I talk to you, and I'll drag you out of that room if I have to!" I replied back.

After no response I opened the door slightly. It was completely dark, save for the light that flowed in from the hallway. I squinted and managed to make out a lump on the bed, which I deemed could only be Ash.

I stood in front of the bed, looking at him shrouded in covers. "Ash, get up," I said.

"Go away," was his response.

"Ash," I said more sternly, "I told you to get up. Brock sent me here to look after you and that's what I'm going to do."

"Didn't you hear me when I said go away?" He replied again, more fiercer than ever.

I sighed again, taking a deep breath, "Ash I know you are hurting, and I know how hard this is for you, but you need to let it go and realize that there is nothing you can do."

"I said go away," Ash said again.

I was beginning to think Ash had little words in his vocabulary, but looking at Pikachu filled me with determination. If he believed in Ash then I had to too.

"Ash listen to me, I'm sorry to say this but your mother is gone and there's nothing you can do but get out of that stupid bed and live already! This is the last thing your mother would have wanted for you, now get up!" I said, a bit harshly, clenching my fists by my sides.

If there was anything that ticked Ash off more, it was my words. He got up suddenly, staring me down with eyes made of fire. It was then that I realized how much weight he had lost, the covers that were wrapped around him seemed to make him look a few pounds heavier, but now that they were off it only seemed like a strong wind could knock him down.

The next words he said were harsh and shook me down to my core. "You are such an annoying bitch! You're just as obnoxious as you always were and you always think you're right! Well forget you and your opinions, and I'm sick of hearing your voice mocking me like you know anything about what I am going through!"

I instinctively retaliated, just as fiercely, "I know a lot more than you do! You know what you are? You are nothing more than a selfish asshole who just wants to be taken care of like a little baby! Well no one is going to baby you, Ash! One day you are going to wake up and be all alone and guess who's fault it's going to be? My parents are gone too, but you don't see me starving myself in a dark cold bed, do you? When are you going to learn to grow up and get a pair, you stupid fool! Can't you see that people are trying to help you but you are so off into your own ass that you can't see anything other than yourself! You think that you are going through something, well there's millions of people out there in the real world who are going through the same as you, but you will never understand that will you?"

Ash rolled his eyes and huffed at me, I swear I could see the steam flowing out from his nostrils. "Why won't you just leave me alone," he said. "You think I'm selfish? You are even more selfish for treating me this way! Now leave me be!" With those words he reached out to shove me away, or at least he tried to, but all the strength he lost didn't make his case much better. He missed and nearly fell to the floor.

He picked up the nearest thing he could find, an empty pokeball, and threw it at me. I ducked at heard it crash on the wall behind me. Except there was one problem the pokeball wasn't empty, but in fact contained one of Ash's prized pokemon, Venusaur. Venusaur looked from me, to Ash, and then to Pikachu, obviously confused.

"Ash you idiot! Are you really that dense?" I shouted.

"Get out! No one wants you here so why don't you just leave! Leave and never come back! I never want to see you again!" Ash shouted back at me.

There was a tense moment of silence, Ash's eyes and mine own piercing each other. Finally I turned around and stomped off, slamming the door behind me.

Of course I never expected things to escalate so far so fast, but what could I do, I think Ash was beyond reason. Maybe he was far beyond anything, and not even Pikachu could save him. I stomped off down the stairs and out the door, running head first into Brock.

"Misty, what's-wait, you're crying, is everything okay?" He asked me.

I shook my head. "No, Brock. It's over, between Ash and I, and it was a mistake to come here. I'm done, Brock, and I think you should be too."

Brock tried to hold my shoulders but I shook away. "Misty," he said, "You know Ash isn't like this, he doesn't mean a thing he says. Please Misty, why don't we try again and we can both talk to him together."

I ignored his pleas but only got back on my bike. I turned around to look at him. "Don't you have a gym to run? Why waste your time taking care of a baby who refuses to be fed? I only hope that when he's hungry someone will give him a crumb off the floor." And with those said words I pedaled off, letting the wind take my tears away.

* * *

I thought that my anger over Ash would subside after the next few days but alas, just as I was about to get over my anger my sisters summoned me to a so-called family meeting. I sat next to the kitchen table, while my sisters gathered around me.

"Misty," Daisy said, "There's something we have to tell you."

"What is it?" I asked. I suddenly felt like being surrounded by my sisters was like being at the head of the knights at the round table.

"Well, Misty," Daisy began to explain, "You see sometimes people have to go on with their lives, even if they don't want to, and although it may be hard to understand in the end you find out that it's actually the best thing. After all we all have our own lives to live and sometimes we don't always agree with our current situation."

My look became perplexed as ever. "Huh?" I said.

Daisy placed a finger on her chin and tried again, "You see sometimes life gives you an interesting opportunity, and before you take it, you have to understand how your decision affects other people. It may not seem like the best decision to make but in the end everyone will understand your feelings."

Her current babble was fazing through me like an overbearing sound of an electric guitar. "Huh?" I said again.

"Oh forget this," Violet yelled out. "When Daisy confuses you it's just time to let it go. Listen Misty, fact of the matter is, sorry to break this to you but we had no choice but to sell the gym."

"Sell the gym?" I repeated those words like it was a foreign phrase from another language. "What are you talking about?"

"Look Misty, I'm sorry but this gym is costing us more money than it's worth and to be honest it's better to sell this place instead of keeping it run open. There's so much to pay for like utilities and water and gas, and did I mention how that huge upgrade to the gym you wanted nearly put us $10,000 in the hole? It's just too much to expect a huge profit for this place, so we got an offer and we accepted it," Violet replied, her words coming quick like she was in a rushing river.

"What? Is this true, Daisy?" I asked, looking at my older sister for guidance.

To my disbelief, Daisy slowly nodded. "I am afraid so, Misty. I'm so sorry, but you see we are running out of funds to support this gym. It's much better to sell it now than to end up in major debt later."

"Then that guy I saw you with that day, he wasn't your boyfriend, but he was a potential buyer was he? And you did this without telling me! I am the gym leader, don't I have a right to know what's happening?!" I nearly shouted, coming close to banging my closed fists on the table.

"Misty, don't you realize how young you are? In circumstances like this it's up to us, your guardians, to make huge financial decisions like this! Don't you understand that what we did was the best thing for you?" Violet said.

"The best thing for me? Have you no idea what you've done? This gym had belonged to our parents, and they shed blood, sweat, and tears for this place! This is our family heirloom, our heritage that is a part of us and you just went and sold it for a few lousy pennies! Doesn't that mean anything to you?!" I began to shout now, raising my voice into the echo chamber that was our dining room.

"We have no money!" Violet shouted back, "And this town is dying! It might be hard for you to believe because you're only fourteen, however if things continue the way they are now we would have no home to come back to! The property taxes are rising and at this rate there would be no way that we could pay for it!"

"Then we fight!" I intervened, finally slamming my fists on the table. "We shed as much blood, sweat, and tears as our parents did! We all get jobs and we work our hardest to pay for what we owe! Why, why give up our home just because we say that we can't do something? With a little hard work and determination there is nothing we can't do!"

"You have such a childlike mentality," Violet scoffed, folding her arms. "You don't understand that even if we all had jobs we still couldn't pay for anything."

"Yeah and me, get a job, and mess up these pretty nails? You can't be serious?" Lily finally spoke up, and I wished she hadn't because it only made me want to punch her in the face.

"Alright everyone let's calm down," Daisy spoke up again, trying to be the voice of reason. "Listen, Misty, as much as I hate to admit it, Violet is right. Even if we all had gotten jobs that still wouldn't be enough to pay for the bills we owe, and even those that are still coming for weeks and months to come."

I let my head fall, tracing my finger along the etch marks on the table. "So we just give up," I whispered out. It was silent but my words still echoed throughout the room.

Daisy reached out and touched my hand, and grabbed it gently. "I know it's hard to understand now, but it was the best decision to make. And with the money we received we can start a new life, live in a new place, and even start up a new gym if we wanted to. It's not the end, Misty, this is only the beginning for all of us. After all, twenty million goes a long way."

Twenty million dollars. For years of memories and battles and love and growing up, all of that was worth nothing much but a lousy twenty million dollars. It may seem like a lot to some, but it just wasn't enough for me. This place is priceless.

I jerked my hand away from Daisy, standing up and looking down on all my sisters. "You have a lot of nerve, all of you do! It's one thing to sell a home, but you also sold my gym! I would have expected you to sell a Growlithe so causally, but not my home-our home! Even if I wasn't old enough to be a part of your little club, the least you could do was ask for my consideration, you know the one who's actually the gym leader! How could you do this to me?! I hate you!"

I ran away from their sorrowful calls of my name and ran upstairs into my room. I was just so angry at that moment, as if I could punch something. I paced back and forth on the carpet, until finally without much warning I grabbed something and threw it across the room, watching it hit the wall and finally fall to the floor. It was then I realized what I had grabbed was my mother's old mini mirror, which was one of the last things she gave me, and was one of my precious heirlooms.

I went to the fallen mirror, bending my knees and clasping the broken glass in my hands. The frame of the mirror was still in tact, but the mirror itself had a large crack along the middle of it. I could almost hear my mother say: Don't break the mirror, or you will have seven years bad luck. I gazed at my broken reflection and felt tears rolling down my cheeks. It seemed like now I only had one thing left of my mother, and now that was broken too, just like I was.

Never have I wished to be a full grown adult more, to protest the situation we were in. But it didn't make a lick of difference now, since the wheels of fate were already in motion, and we only had weeks left to be here. I cried and cried in despair for what seemed like forever, until I finally realized that I couldn't do a thing about it. Just like Ash's mother who died sadly two months ago, there was nothing anyone could do. I had no choice but to accept the loss and move on, but unlike my sisters I didn't want to leave Cerulean completely. After all, home was still home, even if it was run down and old.

"If you really don't want to leave with us, Misty, I've made some arrangements for you to stay somewhere in town. Of course you would have to pay for your own food and general welfare but your rent will be paid. I know it's a lot to ask you to leave here, so it's the least I believe I can do for you. Just remember if you ever need us we will always be here for you. We love you, Misty."

Those were the last words my older sister Daisy said to me. It was a nice apartment she got for me, a single bedroom with a study, and it was paid off in full until I turned eighteen. I just couldn't help but get used to my new home, and the freedom it gave me, but what could I do with a lonely place and my share of five million dollars that I swore to myself to never touch. I guess all I could do was move on and live life, there was no point in dwelling on what should have been.

But before I could get truly adjusted to my new living arrangements, I had my first guest, a surprise visitor caught out in the rain late one night.

I opened the door to see his face, dirty and dripping wet, with two tired pokemon by his side.

"Misty…"

He collapsed in my arms that night, but not before whispering out my name. It was a shocking event, considering just a few short weeks ago he wished to never see me again, but later claiming that before he died of starvation all he wanted was to apologize to me.

With that turn of events I lost my licence since I lost my gym, and with it I also had no choice but to give away my pokemon to Professor Oak, but with it I gained a roommate, who would only slowly get better as the days went on.

~~~~~Present Day~~~~~~~

I rubbed my belly, feeling the possibility of a new beginning, and smiled to myself. I asked my best friend, who became my best boyfriend, why did he pull himself out of the dumps and move in with me.

"I needed a change," Ash told me, "And to have a change I first must change myself. Besides, I figured if you could live through your mom's death, then maybe I could too."

His bright smile pierced through my heart, with a warm everlasting feeling, and no matter how hard I didn't want to I had no choice but to wait for what the future would bring tomorrow.


End file.
